A modified H-shaped double negative (DNG) metamaterial unit cell aimed at X- and Ku-band applications has been presented. Combination of rectangular split ring resonator and complementary H-shaped resonator has been used to construct the unit cell. A multiband DNG bandwidth of 0.845 GHz (7.615–8.46 GHz), 0.605 GHz in X band (8.755–9.36 GHz), and 4.32 GHz in Ku-band (10.68–15 GHz) has been achieved by the unit cell. Moreover, the unit cell has realized a compact size of 0.792 cm2, which is the smallest reported size with the DNG bandwidth more than 4 GHz in a particular band. Commercially available finite difference time domain (FDTD)-based computer simulation technology (CST) has been used for designing the unit cell. Effect of different parts of the unit cell on resonance characteristics has also been alluded. Different array structures have been designed and analyzed for the verification of DNG characteristics. 4 × 4 array has been fabricated which shows close likelihood with the simulated results. Simulated and measured results confirm the effectual involvement in X- and Ku-band applications.
