Design of a multilayer absorber for ultra-wideband radar cross section reduction

Abstract

This study proposes an ultra-wideband multilayer absorber by combining frequency selective surface (FSS) and absorbing material. The structure is composed by three layers which are FSS loaded with resistors, absorbing material at the bottom and each layer is separated by air. The FSS in bottom has good absorption performance at high frequency while the upper layer is used to achieve low-band absorption. To extend the absorption band to the low frequency, it further add a layer of absorbing material at the bottom. Equivalent circuit is employed to analyze the principle of the designed absorber. The simulation results show that an ultra-wide absorption band from 0.61 to 12.33 GHz with a fractional bandwidth of 181% is realized for both TE and TM waves under the normal incidence. Furthermore, the thickness of the structure is only 0.07λ_L, where λ_L represents the wavelength of the minimum operating frequency. The designed absorber is fabricated and measured, and the measurement is in good agreement with the simulation.