We present the simulation, implementation, and measurement of a broadband terahertz (THz) metamaterial absorber. By stacking 12 metallic bars of varying lengths on three polyimide layers with equal spacing, a broadband absorption spectrum is formed through merging multiple successive resonance peaks. The measured total absorption exceeds 95% from 0.81 to 1.32 THz at the normal incidence and the full width at half maximum is 64% (from 0.76 to 1.48 THz). The absorption decreases with fluctuations as the incident angle increases but remains above 62% even at the incident angle of 40°. The physical explanation to the absorption mechanism is presented and verified by a 9-bar example, which exhibits narrower absorption bandwidth. It is also experimentally demonstrated that the proposed structure is robust against misalignment of each metallic layer.

A broadband terahertz absorber using multi-layer stacked bars

A novel design of a transmission window within the absorption band of a circuit analog absorber, named as frequency-selective rasorber (FSR), is presented. Based on an equivalent circuit model, the conditions are formulated to produce a passband with small insertion loss and to reduce the reflection at frequencies below and above the passband in the meanwhile. Simple design guidelines of our proposed FSR are then developed. With loaded lumped elements, the arrays of square-loop and cross-dipole are combined to realize its implementation. It is shown through measurements that an insertion loss of 0.68 dB can be obtained at 4.42 GHz and the fractional bandwidth for at least 10 dB reflection reduction within the lower and upper frequency bands is 92.3% under the normal incidence. A good agreement between simulated and measured results validates our design.

Frequency-Selective Rasorber Based on Square-Loop and Cross-Dipole Arrays

This communication presents a novel frequency-selective surface (FSS) with high in-band transmission at high frequency and wideband absorption at low frequency. It consists of a resistive sheet and a metallic bandpass FSS separated by a foam spacer. The resistive element is realized by inserting a strip-type parallel $LC$ (PLC) structure into the center of a lumped-resistor-loaded metallic dipole. The PLC resonates at the passband of the bandpass FSS and exhibits an infinite impedance, which splits the resistive dipole into two short sections per the surface current; this setup allows for high in-band transmission at high frequency. Below the resonance frequency, the PLC becomes finite inductive and the entire FSS performs as an absorber with the metallic FSS as a ground plane. The surface current distribution on the resistive element can be controlled at various frequencies via the PLC structure. The wideband absorption and high in-band transmission of the proposed design are verified by both numerical simulation and experimental measurements. The potential extension to polarization-insensitive designs is also discussed.

Design of Absorptive/Transmissive Frequency-Selective Surface Based on Parallel Resonance

A novel frequency-selective rasorber (FSR) is proposed in this paper which has a nearly transparent window between two absorption bands. The FSR consists of a resistive sheet and a bandpass frequency-selective surface (FSS). The impedance conditions of absorption/transmission for both the resistive sheet and the bandpass FSS are theoretically derived based on equivalent circuit analysis. The insertion loss of FSR at the resonant frequency of lossless bandpass FSS is proven to be only related to the equivalent impedance of the resistive sheet. When the resistive sheet is in parallel resonance at the passband, a nearly transparent window can be achieved regardless of lossy properties. An interdigital resonator (IR) is designed to realize parallel resonance in the resistive element by extending one finger of a strip-type interdigital capacitor to connect the two separate parts of the capacitor. The IR is equivalent to a parallel LC circuit. Lumped resistors are loaded around the IR to absorb the incident wave at lower and upper absorption bands. With the bandpass FSS as the ground plane, the absorption performances at both the lower and upper bands around the resonant frequency are improved compared to a metal-plane-backed absorber structure. The FSR passband is designed at 10 GHz with an insertion loss of 0.2 dB. The band with a reflection coefficient below −10 dB extends from 4.8 to 15.5 GHz. A further extension to dual-polarized FSR is designed, fabricated, and measured to validate the proposed design.

Frequency-Selective Rasorber With Interabsorption Band Transparent Window and Interdigital Resonator

This paper introduces the concept, theory, and design of 3-D frequency selective rasorbers (FSRs), which have a transmission window transparent to the incident electromagnetic wave with two absorption bands located at both sides of the window. The proposed rasorber consists of a 2-D periodic array of parallel waveguides. The transmission characteristics with high selectivity are produced by lossless resonators implemented using a parallel waveguide with a metallic post in the center. On the other hand, the absorption bands are obtained by lossy resonators constructed by loading of lumped resistors at the entry port of short-circuited waveguides. Physical mechanism of the proposed FSRs is explained with the aid of an equivalent circuit model, and relevant design equations are formulated. Two prototypes of the designed FSRs are fabricated and measured as a proof of concept. The experimental results show that a bandwidth of 50% for the insertion loss less than 3 dB and two absorption bands with a high absorptance of around 90% can be achieved. Moreover, the simulated results also show that the proposed structure exhibits stable performance against the variation of the incident angle of an incoming plane wave.

3-D Frequency Selective Rasorber: Concept, Analysis, and Design

A detailed study of a single-layer circuit analog absorber using double-square-loop array reveals that three resonances can be obtained within its operating frequency band. An equivalent circuit model is proposed to explain how these three resonances can be produced and its absorption bandwidth can be widened. Simple guidelines for the design of this double-square-loop absorber are then formulated. It is shown through measurements that the fractional bandwidth of 126.8% is realized for at least 10 dB reflectivity reduction under the normal incidence. Furthermore, the total thickness of the proposed design is only 0.088λL at the lowest operating frequency. A good agreement between simulated and measured results demonstrates the validity of our design.

On the Design of Single-Layer Circuit Analog Absorber Using Double-Square-Loop Array

Based on the equivalent circuit model, it is demonstrated that five resonances can occur within the absorption band of a circuit analog absorber containing two lossy layers. The lossy layers are composed of resistor-loaded square-loop and double-square-loop arrays. In the absence of a dielectric skin, an initial design with four resonances observed from its reflectivity exhibits a simulated bandwidth ratio (BWR) of 1:8.45 for at least 10 dB absorption. To facilitate physical implementation of the wideband absorber, a modified design is proposed to compensate the effect of parasitic parameters of actual resistors on reflectivity. It is shown through measurement that an operating BWR of 1:8.78 is achieved with the reflectivity smaller than −10 dB under normal incidence. The total thickness of the absorber prototype is only 0.096 λ at the lowest operating frequency. The agreement between simulation and measurement validates the proposed design.

Double-Layer Circuit Analog Absorbers Based on Resistor-Loaded Square-Loop Arrays

The authors investigate in this study using PIN attenuator diodes to reduce the radar cross-section (RCS) of a microstrip patch antenna. A simple design guideline and a useful loading scheme are developed. In the investigation, PIN diodes are equivalent to capacitances and resistances when diodes are reverse-biased and forward-biased, respectively. According to the magnitude distribution of the induced electric field under the patch for a specific incidence angle, the loading positions of PIN diodes are selected near to where the maximum electric field appears. First, three typical incident angles are separately considered. As a result, RCS reduction for the microstrip patch antenna is realised by utilising the variable resistance characteristic (energy dissipation) of PIN attenuator diodes. Secondly, the loading positions for that three incident angles are combined to realise RCS reduction over a large angular spatial region and within a wideband frequency range, and thus an electronically controllable low RCS status can be successfully realised. The proposed design guideline is demonstrated. It is worth mentioning that, by real-time adjusting the bias status of each PIN diode, the antenna realised gain as well as the relative bandwidth is well maintained when the antenna is at work.

Radar cross-section reduction for a microstrip patch antenna using PIN diodes

The electromagnetic backscattering enhancement of both elliptic and circular conducting cylinders is investigated in this paper through the design of conformal and polarization-independent gradient metasurfaces. The presented metasurface designs employ varying phase gradient along the circumferential direction of the involved cylinder so that effective retroreflection can be achieved through redirecting the scattering dispersed by the conducting cylinder back to the direction from which the plane electromagnetic wave is coming. Supported by a grounded thin substrate with a relatively high dielectric constant, a modified loop array with compact unit cell is used to implement the nonuniformly or uniformly sampled phase gradient of the metasurface. It is observed that the metasurface-coated elliptic and circular cylinders can generate backscattering very close to that by corresponding flat conducting plates with their main planes perpendicular to the incident wave vector, for both transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) polarizations. Compared with the conducting cylinders without coating, the backscattering is thus effectively enhanced by the conformal gradient metasurfaces. Good agreement between simulated and measured backscattering results validates the observations.

Yuping Shang

Papers

On the Design of Single-Layer Circuit Analog Absorber Using Double-Square-Loop Array

Frequency-Selective Rasorber Based on Square-Loop and Cross-Dipole Arrays

Double-Layer Circuit Analog Absorbers Based on Resistor-Loaded Square-Loop Arrays

Radar cross-section reduction for a microstrip patch antenna using PIN diodes

Polarization-Independent Backscattering Enhancement of Cylinders Based on Conformal Gradient Metasurfaces