Control of the sensitivity of CRLH interdigital microstrip balanced structures using a co-design genetic algorithm approach

Abstract : A fully automated tool for designing CRLH interdigital microstrip structures using a co-design synthesis computational approach is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. This approach uses an electromagnetic simulator in conjunction with a genetic algorithm to synthesize and optimize a balanced CRLH interdigital microstrip transmission line. The high sensitivity of a long balanced transmission line to fabrication tolerances is controlled by the use of a high precision 3D simulator. The 2.5D simulator used was found insufficient for a large number of unit cells. A 13 UC CRLH transmission line is designed with the proposed approach. The response sensitivity of the balanced transmission lines to the over/under-etching factor is highlighted by comparing the measurements of four lines with different factors. The effect of over/under-etching is significant for values larger than 10 μm.