Flexible metamaterial absorbers for stealth applications at terahertz
Journal Article

Published: Friday, December 23, 2011
Journal: Optics Express, Volume 20, Number 1, Pages 635-643
Link: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-20-1-635

Authors (1 total): A. C. Strikwerda

Abstract:

At the moment, I am unable to update the author list, which is Krzysztof Iwaszczuk, Andrew C. Strikwerda, Kebin Fan, Xin Zhang, Richard D. Averitt, and Peter Uhd Jepsen

We have wrapped metallic cylinders with strongly absorbing metamaterials. These resonant structures, which are patterned on flexible substrates, smoothly coat the cylinder and give it an electromagnetic response designed to minimize its radar cross section. We compare the normal-incidence, small-beam reflection coefficient with the measurement of the far-field bistatic radar cross section of the sample, using a quasi-planar THz wave with a beam diameter significantly larger than the sample dimensions. In this geometry we demonstrate a near-400-fold reduction of the radar cross section at the design frequency of 0.87 THz. In addition we discuss the effect of finite sample dimensions and the spatial dependence of the reflection spectrum of the metamaterial.