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Published on: December 27, 2012
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ITO Meta-Absorber-Loaded Conformal UHF Monopole Antenna with Wide-Angel RCS Reduction.
Pan Lu1,2, Jiuhao Gong1, Xiaona Liu2
1School of Information and Communications Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
Materials (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 27, 2025
Summary
A new conformal UHF antenna reduces radar cross-section (RCS) across wide angles. Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) meta-absorbers suppress scattering, maintaining high efficiency for airborne and drone applications.
Area of Science:
- Electromagnetics and Antenna Design
- Materials Science for RF Applications
Background:
- Large antennas in the UHF band can exhibit significant radar cross-section (RCS) at higher frequencies like the X-band.
- This scattering can be problematic for sensing applications, especially for airborne and drone platforms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a conformal Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) antenna with wide-angle radar cross-section (RCS) reduction.
- To investigate the use of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) meta-absorbers for RCS suppression.
- To ensure the antenna maintains high radiation efficiency in the UHF band.
Main Methods:
- A planar monopole antenna was designed as the radiator.
- Two types of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) meta-absorbers were developed and integrated onto the monopole antenna.
- The periodical meta-absorber was used for incident beams orthogonal to the radiator plane, while the taper meta-absorber handled parallel incident waves.
Main Results:
- The periodical meta-absorber achieved approximately 20 dB RCS reduction in the X-band for orthogonal incident beams.
- The taper meta-absorber effectively absorbed incident waves parallel to the radiator plane, reducing RCS in the horizontal plane.
- The combined meta-absorbers enabled wide-angle RCS reduction without compromising the antenna's UHF omnidirectional radiation performance.
Conclusions:
- The proposed conformal UHF antenna demonstrates significant wide-angle RCS reduction in the X-band.
- The integration of ITO meta-absorbers effectively suppresses scattering while preserving UHF radiation efficiency.
- This design is well-suited for airborne and drone applications requiring both communication and stealth capabilities.
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