Scattering control using square and hexagonal checkerboard surfaces

The reflection variation property of Electromagnetic Band-Gap (EBG) structures can be utilized to reduce the Radar Cross Section (RCS) of ground planes. Combining PEC and EBG structures on the same ground plane forms checkerboard surfaces which can achieve a RCS reduction in a narrow frequency band. However, a wider band RCS reduction can be realized by combining two different EBG structures. It can realize 60% frequency bandwidth for the 10-dB RCS reduction. The scattered fields for square checkerboard surfaces are re-directed toward four quadrants, while the scattering for hexagonal checkerboard surfaces are toward six directions. The maxima of the RCS for checkerboard surfaces in the four quadrants are 10 dB less than those of the PEC ground plane, and more than 19 dB RCS reduction is obtained along the principal planes. Both bistatic and monostatic RCS are compared with those of the equal-sized PEC ground planes.