A review of the development of enhanced directivity applied to high gain antennas is shown here, illustrating the various design possibilities. Fabry-Perot cavities (FPC) covered by partially reflective surfaces (PRS) made by high density dielectric layers or frequency selective surfaces is the standard way to obtain such antennas. Ground planes may be substituted by artificial magnetic surfaces to reduce the overall thickness, metamaterials with low permittivity have been used to generate highly directive beams as well. In all cases high directivity is produced by the excitation of low attenuating leaky waves in the antenna transverse direction. © 2006 EuMA.

In this paper, we present the joint activities developed in the frame of the FP6 European Network of Excellence METAMORPHOSE in the field of new micro-structured materials for antenna applications. One of the key scientific goals of the research efforts developed within this network is to design innovative micro-structured materials to improve the performances of conventional radiators. Miniaturization, multi-functionality, reduced interference with electronic circuitry, are some of the main challenges in the design of antennas for the next generation of electronic transceivers in the microwave frequency range. The employment of different classes of metamaterials in innovative antenna layouts has been demonstrated to be effective to reach most of the desired goals. The theoretical, numerical and experimental efforts carried out by the leading European institutions working in this field, in fact, show how metamaterial antennas with unusual features are ready to push the innovation in the antenna research. The collaborative dimension of this research is described in this paper, as well as the related scientific achievements. © 2007 EuMA.