Rapid prototyping of microwave metasurfaces by ink-jet printing on polyester (PET) transparencies

Abstract Microwave metasurfaces have been developing rapidly for various applications, typically fabricated on rigid substrates such as silicon and printed circuit board using conventional microfabrication and related techniques. Rapid prototyping and production is desirable for quick design changes, design flexibility for different applications, manufacturing and low cost. Here, we report on the production of microwave metasurfaces using inkjet-printed Ag conductive patterns on polyester sheets as transparent and flexible substrates. The design is shown to be easily reconfigurable between single-band absorption achieved with a single layer of metal array pattern and multi-band absorption achieved either by stacking various single-band sheets or by printing a complex pattern on a single sheet. The dielectric thickness is varied by the simple addition of blank polyester sheets between the sheet with the printed pattern and the ground plane. Optimal dielectric thickness for each combination of materials and geometries defining the metasurface has been achieved by varying the number of blank sheets to maximize the absorption to near perfect levels in each case. This method is amenable for rapidly producing narrowband and broadband metasurfaces for various applications.