Other Uses
In addition to their use as antennas, fractals have also found application in other antenna system components including loads, counterpoises, and ground planes. Confusion by those who claim "grain of rice"-sized fractal antennas arises, because such fractal structures serve the purpose of loads and counterpoises, rather than bona fide antennas.
Fractal inductors and fractal tuned circuits (fractal resonators) were also discovered and invented simultaneously with fractal element antennas. An emerging example of such is in metamaterials. A recent report demonstrates using close-packed fractal resonators to make the first wideband metamaterial invisibility cloak, at microwave frequencies. Fractal filters (a type of tuned circuit) are another example where the superiority of the approach has been proven.
As fractals can be used as counterpoises, loads, ground planes, and filters, all parts that can be integrated with antennas, they are considered parts of some antenna systems and thus are discussed in the context of fractal antennas.
Read more about this topic: Fractal Antenna