CRLH–CRLH C-Section Dispersive Delay Structures With Enhanced Group-Delay Swing for Higher Analog Signal Processing Resolution

A novel dispersive delay structure (DDS) based on a composite right/left-handed (CRLH)-CRLH coupler is proposed and demonstrated by both full-wave and experimental results. The experimental prototypes are compact and shielded multilayer DDSs implemented in low-temperature co-fired ceramics technology. Compared to the conventional all-pass C-section DDS, the proposed CRLH C-section DDS exhibit a larger group-delay swing, which leads to higher resolution in analog signal processing applications, as a result of their higher coupling capability. Moreover, they feature a larger bandwidth and a smaller size. A generalized wave-interference analysis is presented to both rigorously derive the transfer functions and group-delay characteristics of C-section DDSs and provide deeper insight into their operating mechanisms in both their left- and right-handed regimes.