Ultra-Thin Metasurface Polarization Converter with Linear and Circular Polarization Features for RCS Applications
Fadi Alahmed Albasry, Gökhan Öztürk, Uğur Cem Hasar, Muhammed Fatih Corapsiz
Abstract
Abstract In this study, an attractive ultra-thin metasurface (MS) converter is proposed for both K-band (18–27 GHz) and Ka-band (27–40 GHz) having the superior performance of the linear-to-linear polarization (LP-LP) conversion and the linear-to-circular polarization (LP-CP) conversion. Its operating bandwidth for the LP-LP conversion is approximately over 18.6–26.7 GHz (lower part of the K-band) with a conversion efficiency of more than 90% and over 19.55–24.8 GHz (upper part of the K-band) with a polarization conversion ratio (PCR) value of more than 99%. In addition, its operating bandwidth for the LP-CP conversion (a left-handed circular polarization (LHCP)) is nearly between 31.8 and 40.5 GHz (Ka-band) with a PCR value of more than 99%. The converter can achieve a PCR value greater than 90% for both the LP-LP and LP-CP conversions for an oblique incidence wave with an incidence angle up to $$ 40^\circ $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>40</mml:mn> <mml:mo>∘</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> . The design also provides mono-static radar cross section for the 18.6–26.7 GHz frequency range, where the LP-LP conversion is provided. The proposed structure can be considered to be ultra-thin having a thickness of 1 mm corresponding to 0.075 $$\lambda $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>λ</mml:mi> </mml:math> in the LP-LP and 0.12 $$\lambda $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>λ</mml:mi> </mml:math> in the LP-CP cases concerning the center frequency. The cost-effective bandwidths (BWCEs) are 210 and 34 for the LP-LP and LP-CP conversions, respectively. Free-space experiments were carried out at X-band and Ku-band to validate our design.