Dual-band switchable reconfigurable metasurface reflector/absorber and its application for radar cross section reduction

Abstract Active metasurfaces with dynamically switchable reflector/absorber characteristics are highly in demands in radar battlefield applications. Such structures operate in absorption mode when intercepting adversarial radar signals and switch to reflection mode upon identifying friendly radar signals. Nevertheless, existing designs constrained to single working band, which limit their potential use in modern stealth devices. To address this limitation, a simple yet effective design of a low-cost dual-band switchable reflector/absorber metasurface is proposed based on positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes. By manipulating the state of the PIN-diodes, it is possible to switch between reflection and absorption modes in two distinct frequency bands, which are 8.92−9.06 GHz ( f l -band) and 9.75−10.25 GHz ( f h -band). The physical mechanism behind the dual-band switching operation is explained with the help of equivalent circuit model. Furthermore, the proposed structure is also being investigated for its switchable radar cross section (RCS) reduction capability. In comparison to a metallic plate of similar dimensions, the metasurface can attain at least 10 dB reduction in RCS at f l -band in the OFF-state, while exceeding 10 dB RCS reduction at f h -band for the ON-state. The simulation and experimental findings align well, proving the structure feasibility.