PCB prism absorber design and characterisation

ABSTRACT

This article presents a stack of metal/dielectric lamination absorber shaped as a doubly periodic array of truncated prism. We show how the EM absorption characteristics can be modified through simple changes to the geometric structure of the unit cell. The resultant absorber can be designed to exhibit broadband performance, i.e. 10 dB return loss from 8.2 to 14.2 GHz. We then discuss the angular TE, TM incidence absorption characteristics of a doubly periodic arrangement of square truncated prism array. Through EM simulation, we demonstrate the possibility for optical imaging through the absorber by introducing perforations into it. Finally, we show how to use a waveguide simulator method to experimentally verify the absorption performance of the basic structure.

KEYWORDS:

• Absorber
• broadband
• PCB
• metamaterial

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the UK Engineering and Physical Research Council EPSRC EP/N020391/1.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [grant number EP/N020391/1].

Notes on contributors

Chao Gu

Chao Gu received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Xidian University, Xi’an, China, in 2009 and 2012, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Kent, Canterbury, U.K., in 2017. Since 2018, he has been with the Centre for Wireless Innovation, ECIT Institute, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, U.K. His research interests include phased array antennas, reconfigurable antennas, and RF metamaterials.

Vincent Fusco

Vincent Fusco received the bachelor’s degree (Hons.) in electrical and electronic engineering, the Ph.D. degree in microwave electronics, and the D.Sc. degree from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), Belfast, U.K., in 1979, 1982, and 2000, respectively. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer with the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT), QUB. He has authored over 500 scientific papers in major journals and referred international conferences, and two textbooks. He holds patents related to self-tracking antennas and has contributed invited papers and book chapters. His current research interests include physical layer secure active antenna techniques. In 2012, he was awarded the IET Senior Achievement Award, the Mountbatten Medal. He is fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.