Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Backscatter Patterns of the Blocks of Masking Digital Two-Bit Meta-covers

Abstract

Introduction. The scattering patterns of non-absorbing coded checkerboard-like meta-coatings (MCs) applied for reducing the radar cross section (RCS) of metal surfaces inevitably contain side diffraction lobes. Therefore, the development of MCs with a low level of diffraction lobes is relevant. For this purpose, it is proposed to use checkerboard-like MCs in the form of a set of several basic flat blocks with the same dimensions. The paper discusses two such basic MC blocks with different coding matrices. The cells of the metasurface contain two coupled elliptical ring resonators and are distinguished by a 2-bit coding of the tilt angle of the anisotropy axis. Coding matrices of the MC blocks are built according to the block principle.Aim. To investigate experimentally and numerically backscatter patterns (BSP) for consonant (co-) and orthogonal (cross-) polarizations of the two developed flat blocks of the 2-bit digital nonabsorbing anisotropic MCs for different planes and polarizations of irradiation.Materials and methods. Full-wave simulation of the MC blocks was carried out using the HFSS software by the finite element method. BSP measurements of the fabricated MC layouts were performed in an anechoic chamber of the Center for Collective Usage “Applied Electrodynamics and Antenna Measurements” of the Southern Federal University using an automated information and computing complex.Results. The RCS reduction for the two blocks under normal irradiation is approximately the same and not less than 12 dB over the 9.8…21 GHz band. A good matching between the simulation and measurement results of backscattering patterns of the blocks in the region of the central lobes for various planes and polarizations of the irradiation is noted. In the principal planes, the blocks cancel the central lobes of the BSP by 10…25 dB; in the sector of angles of around ±40°, the backward RCS of the blocks is lower than that of the reference. In the diagonal planes, there is a cancellation of the RCS by 13…15 dB and an expansion of the central lobe of the BSP for copolarizations, as well as a bifurcation of this lobe for crosspolarizations in the sector of angles ±9°; outside of this sector the RCSs of the blocks are commensurate with the RCS of the reference.Conclusion. The developed blocks of the 2-bit digital nonabsorbing anisotropic MCs can be used for broadband cancellation of the RCS of metal surfaces.