Breaking the challenge of signal integrity using time-domain spoof surface plasmon polaritons

In modern integrated circuits and wireless communication systems/devices, three key features need to be solved simultaneously to reach higher performance and more compact size: signal integrity, interference suppression, and miniaturization. However, the above-mentioned requests are almost contradictory using the traditional techniques. To overcome this challenge, here we propose time-domain spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) as the carrier of signals. By designing a special plasmonic waveguide constructed by printing two narrow corrugated metallic strips on the top and bottom surfaces of a dielectric substrate with mirror symmetry, we show that spoof SPPs are supported from very low frequency to the cutoff frequency with strong subwavelength effects, which can be converted to the time-domain SPPs. When two such plasmonic waveguides are tightly packed with deep-subwavelength separation, which commonly happens in the integrated circuits and wireless communications due to limited space, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that SPP signals on such two plasmonic waveguides have better propagation performance and much less mutual coupling than the conventional signals on two traditional microstrip lines with the same size and separation. Hence the proposed method can achieve significant interference suppression in very compact space, providing a potential solution to break the challenge of signal integrity

Broadband RCS Reduction of Microstrip Patch Antenna Using Bandstop Frequency Selective Surface

In this article, a simple and effective approach is presented to reduce the Radar Cross Section (RCS) of microstrip patch antenna in ultra broad frequency band. This approach substitutes a metallic ground plane of a conventional patch antenna with a hybrid ground consisting of bandstop Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) cells with partial metallic plane. To demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach, the influence of different ground planes on antenna’s performance is investigated. Thus, a patch antenna with miniaturized FSS cells is proposed. The results suggest that this antenna shows 3dB RCS reduction almost in the whole out-of operating band within 1-20GHz for wide incident angles when compared to conventional antenna, while its radiation characteristics are sustained simultaneously. The reasonable agreement between the measured and the simulated results verifies the efficiency of the proposed approach. Moreover, this approach doesn’t alter the lightweight, low-profile, easy conformal and easy manufacturing nature of the original antenna and can be extended to obtain low-RCS antennas with metallic planes in broadband that are quite suitable for the applications which are sensitive to the variation of frequencies

Invisibility and Cloaking: Origins, Present, and Future Perspectives

The development of metamaterials, i.e., artificially structured materials that interact with waves in unconventional ways, has revolutionized our ability to manipulate the propagation of electromagnetic waves and their interaction with matter. One of the most exciting applications of metamaterial science is related to the possibility of totally suppressing the scattering of an object using an invisibility cloak. Here, we review the available methods to make an object undetectable to electromagnetic waves, and we highlight the outstanding challenges that need to be addressed in order to obtain a fully functional coating capable of suppressing the total scattering of an object. Our outlook discusses how, while passive linear cloaks are fundamentally limited in terms of bandwidth of operation and overall scattering suppression, active and/or nonlinear cloaks hold the promise to overcome, at least partially, some of these limitations.AFOSR Award FA9550-13-1-0204NSF CAREER Award ECCS-0953311DTRA YIP Award HDTRA1-12-1-0022Electrical and Computer Engineerin

Miniaturized and flexible FSS-based EM shields for conformal applications

This article reports on very efficient and highly miniaturized wideband polygon-shaped frequency selective surface (PFSS) shields for the planar and conformal applications in the X-band. These shields have been analyzed for both lossy as well as for low-loss substrates. The conformal configurations of PFSS are particularly investigated for inward, outward, and double-curved profiles useful for a variety of applications. The conformal designs have been tested for two different radii of curvatures. The models have been simulated using a hybrid simulation approach for electrically large geometries. The equivalent circuit model as well as the analytical model are determined. The proposed PFSS designs offer stable angular response up to 60° for planar and all conformal geometries on both lossy and low-loss prototypes. Shielding effectiveness of at least 55 dB and 48 dB has been measured for flat/nonconformal and conformal configurations, respectively

Numerical Investigation about Frequency Behaviour of Conformal FSS

Frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) are spatial filters widely employed in high-performance applications like hybrid radomes for radars and antennas. While planar geometries are widely studied, less attention has been devoted to conformal ones, where we must consider the influence of both the lattice geometry and the shape and size of the individual elements. In the planar case, periodicity first impacts on the general reflecting properties of the surface, while the shape and the size of the individual element affect its detailed both spatial and frequency filtering behaviour. In particular, the frequency response is dictated mainly by the scattering by the individual element and attains its maximum at resonance conditions. We mean to numerically investigate whether the same also occurs for non-planar surfaces and curved elements, for both cylindrical and conical surfaces. We compare the results of the general frequency behaviour of FSS both made of strips in free space and slots cut in a perfectly conducting material. The effect of the lattice geometrical parameters is also appreciated. The main conclusions are that also for curved elements a frequency selective behaviour can be appreciated and the interaction with the single elements plays an important role, when mutual coupling is not strong