Broadband metamaterial absorber based on a multi-layer structure

In this paper, a broadband metamaterial absorber (MA) based on a multi-layer structure is presented. The advantages of this MA are the small periodic unit size, they are thin, have excellent polarization characteristics and are adaptive for wide angles of oblique incident electromagnetic waves. The unit cell of the broadband MA is composed of three dual-band sub-cells; each presents two resonant frequencies so as to form a wide absorptive spectrum when stacked. The sandwiched dual-band sub-cell is composed of one metallic annular patch and one metallic circular patch each etched on a lossy substrate. The radii of the metallic patches forming each sub-cell are different so as to appear to have different resonant frequencies. In the design of the unit cell there are metallic circular patches and an air layer at the bottom of each sub-cell to form magnetic coupling and avoid coupling between sub-cells. The broadband MA presents good absorptivity above 80% between 8.8 and 10.8 GHz, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) absorption bandwidth of 2.3 GHz and a relative FWHM absorption bandwidth of 23%.