A Novel Checkerboard Metasurface Based on Optimized Multielement Phase Cancellation for Superwideband RCS Reduction

Abstract

In this paper, a checkerboard metasurface based on a novel physical mechanism, optimized multielement phase cancellation, is proposed for greatly expanding the bandwidth of radar cross section (RCS) reduction. More basic metaparticles and, in particular, the variable phase difference between them, greatly increase the ability to control electromagnetic waves. Interactions between multiple local waves produced by the basic metaparticles at multiple frequencies sampled in a superwide frequency band are manipulated and optimized simultaneously to achieve phase cancellation. The proposed metasurface can achieve a 10 dB RCS reduction in a superwide frequency band from 5.5 to 32.3 GHz with a ratio bandwidth ( ${f}_{H}/{f}_{L}$ ) of 5.87:1 under normal incidence for both polarizations. Furthermore, the RCS reduction is larger than 8 dB from 5.4 to 40 GHz with a ratio bandwidth of 7.4:1. The metasurface also has a good performance under wide-angle oblique incidences. The optimal metaparticle distribution is found to obtain the superwideband bistatic RCS reduction. The theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results are in good agreement and verify the ability and capability of the proposed mechanism.