Emerging applications of Reconfigurable Artificial Magnetic Conductors in Wireless Communications

Artificial Magnetic Conductors (AMC) are a class of engineered surfaces that exhibit a reflection coefficient of unity with a phase of zero degree. They can enable the creation of ultra-compact, high-gain antennas that can be seamlessly integrated into a wide array of devices, from mobile communications to wearable technology. However, due to the nature of such surfaces being highly resonant, they offer limited bandwidth and hence are not widely adopted in the wireless communication industry which endeavours to achieve a wider band of operation. This thesis investigates the realm of artificial magnetic conductors with a particular focus on making them highly reconfigurable and to showcase their use in various practical and emerging applications related to Wireless Communications. The motivation behind this research stems from the requirement for compact and adaptive antennas and other microwave components, which can have significant implications for beyond 5G and future 6G applications. Therefore design of highly reconfigurable AMC has been investigated that offers a wider band of operation by virtue of reconfigurability. Furthermore, the AMC designs have been integrated and showcased with practical use cases ranging from electronically steerable antennas for Internet of Things (IoT) to Transverse Electromagnetic (TEM) waveguides and wideband antennas.