A compact printed Van Atta Array with zero-phase CRLH transmission lines

A key component in the design of a printed Van Array is the requirement of the transmission line (TL) interconnects between the elements to be a factor of the operating wavelength. This results in interconnects that introduce a 2π phase shift. Traditionally, meander-lines have been used to design these interconnects; however, one drawback is the large space required for the layout. In this paper, a more compact Van Atta array that uses zero-phase composite right/left-handed TLs instead of meander-lines is presented. The result is a Van Array array that is 34.0% smaller at the operating frequency of 2.43 GHz. For validation, simulations are compared to measurements of several prototypes.