Reducing out-of-band radar cross-section of metasurface-based radome composites via beam-scattering mechanism

Abstract

In this work, a metasurface-based radome composite (MRC) with customized electromagnetic (EM) functions is proposed. By employing a beam-scattering mechanism, high transmission at 2–4 GHz and significant radar cross-section (RCS) reduction at 8–18 GHz are achieved. The MRC prototype features a sandwiched construction and is fabricated using quartz fiber-reinforced composite (QFRC) skins, polymethacrylimide (PMI) foam cores, and silver-based frequency selective surface (FSS) screens. The calculation, simulation, and measured results demonstrated that the transmission of the planar specimen is larger than −1 dB at 2–4 GHz and the RCS reduction is less than −10 dB at 8–18 GHz. The measured results also verified that in the HH and VV polarizations, the mono-static RCS of a square pyramid (SP) specimen at specific directions from 8 GHz to 12 GHz is significantly reduced. It is believed that our finding has great application potential in stealth radome technology.

Keywords

• Radome composite
• Metasurface
• RCS reduction
• Electromagnetic transmission