Frequency Selective Surface Structure Miniaturization Using Interconnected Array Elements on Orthogonal Layers

Traditionally, the element of a frequency selective surface (FSS) is rotationally symmetrical and the element arrays in a multilayer FSS are aligned with each other. A new approach to miniaturize the size of the FSS array element is proposed in this paper by interconnecting the array elements only in one direction in a two-layer FSS structure. One layer acts as an enhanced inductor while the other layer provides capacitance. The interconnection between the adjacent array elements changes the equivalent circuit and produces a strong cross-layer capacitance, which lowers the resonant frequency significantly. The dimensions of the miniaturized FSS element are much smaller than the wavelength at the resonant frequency (periodicity << lambda). The element can also have a low profile since the cross-layer capacitance is stronger with a thinner substrate. The sensitivity to the incident angle of the proposed structure is comparable with traditional ones. A theoretical equivalent circuit model is developed to characterize the structure, based on the analysis of the geometrical configuration of the FSS structure and the electric field distribution on it. The theory was verified by the experimental results.