Band pass filter bank design (250???500 MHz) for radio astronomy application based on metamaterial ZOR techniques

Metamaterial (MTM) is an artificial composite material for which we can change its electromagnetic properties [1]. The equivalent circuit approach of MTM was developed by Caloz and Itoh [2] and Sanada et al. [3], and this approach has led to the concept of composite right- and left-handed (CRLH) materials. This concept fully takes into account the parasitic right-handed (RH) effects, which is unavoidable in a practical application. The zeroth-order resonator (ZOR) has the mode number zero, and its resonator length is invariant of its wavelength. Sanada et al. [3] first proposed MTM-ZOR and realized it in microstrip configuration. Using the MTM-ZOR technique, several researchers [4]-[8] have designed band pass filters (BPFs) in different frequency bands.