Adaptive radar absorbing structure with PIN diode controlled active frequency selective surface

Abstract

A brief description of the theory of passive and active absorbers is presented followed by details of an experimental study of a new design of adaptive absorber. The absorber is a single-layer planar structure based upon the topology of a Salisbury screen, but in which the conventional resistive layer is replaced by an active frequency selective surface (FSS) controlled by PIN diodes. The resulting structure has superior reflectivity–bandwidth characteristics compared to conventional passive absorbers of corresponding thickness. Experimental results are presented and compared to those obtained from a transmission line model, and show that the reflectivity response of the absorber can be dynamically controlled over the frequency band from 9 to 13 GHz.