Achieving PMC boundary conditions through metamaterials

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how metamaterials with extreme values of permittivity and permeability, may be effectively used to design artificial magnetic conductors (AMC) at a given frequency. In particular, this paper theoretically determines, for the different polarizations of the incidence field, the conditions under which metamaterials can behave as an AMC. Design/methodology/approach – In order to find out the required values of the constitutive parameters, this paper has done a theoretical analysis based on the transmission-line theory. The obtained analytical reflection coefficient has been particularized for the different possible polarizations of the incidence field in order to find the constitutive parameters values that this paper needs for the AMC behavior. Findings – Depending on the polarization of the field, it is shown that different values of the constitutive parameters are needed to get AMCs. In particular, it is shown that in the case of TEM and TE polarizations, a la...