Low-profile and wide-band RCS-reduction antenna array based on the metasurface polarization converter

Abstract

Antenna elements with a low profile and high front-to-back (FB) ratio mean that no additional reflective cavity is required when forming the array, which greatly helps to simplify and lighten the entire array system. In this paper, we enhance the FB ratio of the antenna to 35 dB while maintaining an ultra-low profile of 0.05 λ0 by attaching the broadband polarization conversion metasurfaces (PCMs) as the parasitic patches to the surface of the radiating patch. Meanwhile, the array formed by the proposed antenna is arranged in a checkerboard form, which makes it have a lower radar cross section (RCS) in the X- and Ku- bands. Even with PCMs loaded, the antenna element maintains a small size of 0.58 λ0 × 0.58 λ0, which ensures the proposed array can achieve the ± 45° beam scanning, making it suitable for the phased array. For verification, we propose a low-sidelobe array composed of the proposed antenna elements, which exhibits a low profile, high FB ratio, and broadband RCS reduction through simulation and measurement.