Polarization Scattering Properties of Inhomogeneous Plasma-Covered Metal Plate

Abstract

The plasma sheath generated during the reentry of the hypersonic vehicle will significantly influence the amplitude and polarization property of the scattered wave and lead to abnormal scattering characteristics of the hypersonic vehicle. Therefore, an electromagnetic (EM) simulation model of 3-D inhomogeneous plasma-covered metal plate is deployed to study the scattered properties of linear polarization plane wave obliquely incident on the inhomogeneous plasma. Based on the dispersive media’s convolutional perfect matched layer (CPML) and taking the Gaussian pulse linear polarization wave as an example, this article studies the effects of the plasma parameters, including the electron density and the collision frequency, on the scattered properties of plasma covered metal plate. Then, the influences of incident angle and EM wave polarization mode on the polarization properties of the scattered wave are emphatically analyzed. Numerical results indicate that the inhomogeneous plasma presents the cross-polarization isolation effect when the electric field of the plane wave is parallel to the surface of the plasma. On the contrary, the inhomogeneous plasma presents the cross-polarization depolarization effect when the electric field vector intersects with the surface of the plasma. The results provide a theoretical basis for the research on radar cross section (RCS) measurement, polarization matching, and EM stealth of plasma-sheath-covered hypersonic vehicles.