RCS Reduction from Conformal Surfaces Using Plasma-Based AMC Arrays.

Military applications employ metallic objects with different shapes, which must produce low radar cross-section (RCS) to avoid detection and destruction from explosive devices. A plasma-based artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) unit cell with crossed arrow shape is employed for reconfigurable RCS reduction bandwidth from metallic objects. Loading metallic objects with AMC unit-cell elements changes its surface to high impedance surface which reduces the electromagnetic waves reflected from these objects. The plasma material reconfigurable electric properties effect on controlling the RCS reduction bandwidth is introduced. The plasma conductivity controls the RCS reduction band of the ± 90° bandwidth of the AMC unit-cell element and also controls the zero-crossing frequency. The proposed plasma AMC unit-cell is designed to operate in the frequency band from 9 GHz to 13 GHz. Different hybrid AMC element arrangements are designed to mimimize the RCS over wide frequency band. Different metallic surfaces are studied include planar, cylindrical, and spherical sheets. The effect of radii of curvature of conformal surfaces with convex and concave curvatures is explained. A full-wave simulation using the finite integration technique (FIT) is applied to examine the proposed constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]