An Ultra-Thin and Wideband Low-Frequency Absorber Based on Periodic Resistance Film

Low-frequency broadband electromagnetic wave absorption is a critical challenge for radar stealth materials, as traditional absorbent-based coatings often suffer from poor low-frequency performance or severe high-frequency degradation when optimized for low frequencies. This study proposes a novel ultra-thin broadband low-frequency absorber fabricated by depositing a periodic resistive layer onto a conventional absorbent-based wave-absorbing layer, which forms a tailored low-frequency conductive metasurface structure. The integrated coating achieves an ultra-thin total thickness of merely 0.4 mm while exhibiting excellent broadband absorption performance across multiple radar bands: it delivers an average reflection loss of -0.6 dB in the L-band (1-2 GHz), -2 dB in the S-band (2-4 GHz), -3.6 dB in the C-band (4-8 GHz), and maintains a stable average reflection loss of -2.8 dB in the X to Ku bands. Compared with single-layer absorbing materials of the same thickness, this material exhibits significantly improved absorbing performance in the S-band and C-band, and achieves a breakthrough from zero to effective absorption in the L-band. Meanwhile, it can be integrated with structural design to reduce radar cross section (RCS), showing excellent engineering application value. The key mechanism underlying the performance enhancement lies in the periodic resistive layer, which optimizes the broadband impedance matching of the entire coating system, effectively elevates the surface current density, and augments resistive loss and eddy current loss within the structure. This design strategy enables an effectively boost in S-band wave-absorbing performance with minimal compromise to the high-frequency absorption characteristics, thus meeting the stringent requirements for broadband radar wave absorption in practical engineering applications.