Aiming at the large-scale application of metasurface in the field of radar stealth, we present a hybrid resonance-based and dispersion substrate integrated checkerboard metasurface (CMS) for reducing the radar cross section (RCS) of flat metallic targets. Considering the frequency-dependent characteristics of such a dispersion material, a pair of single and dual resonant artificial magnetic conductor meta-atoms with the modified “crusades-like” cell topologies is employed to maximize the operating bandwidth; besides, a comprehensive and thorough investigation on the resonance mechanism is conducted in this paper to provide an intuitive physical insight of meta-atoms’ reflection responses. By comparing the predicted results with simulations, the quasi-periodic effect is introduced to explain the frequency shift of 10 dB RCS reduction bandwidth. In the implementation procedure, a prototype of the designed RCS reducer with a total dimension of 180 × 180 mm2 is fabricated and measured, the 10 dB RCS reduction bandwidth of theoretical simulation and experimental measurement are basically consistent, and the performance improvement of 8 dB RCS reduction in the experimental results can be attributed to the dispersion effects of the dielectric substrate. With a better figure of merit, our efforts may serve as a useful exemplar for the economical CMS architecture in radar evasive applications.

The popularity of metasurfaces (MSs) has been continuously grown due to their powerful ability to manipulate electromagnetic (EM) waves. One of their important application areas is radar stealth technology, in particular, the realization of radar cross section (RCS) reduction. However, the high costs of substrate material limit its large-scale applications. In this paper, a binary digital coding metasurface (DCM) with novel modified ‘crusades-like’ cell topologies is proposed and implemented using a low-cost FR4 substrate to achieve broadband RCS reduction (RCSR). To realize the 1-bit DCM, initially, two elements with rotational symmetry are chosen for polarization insensitive properties while considering an unconventional phase deviation criteria. Next, the optimal hybrid coding layout is given out by using a genetic algorithm (GA) and antenna array theory. Last, the proposed novel MS prototype composed of 40 × 40 unit cells is fabricated and measured to validate the RCSR behaviour predicted by full-wave simulation. The results show a good consistency between the theoretical simulation and experimental measurement from 7.9 to 15.8 GHz. In addition, the simulation results indicate that the designed MS features high angular stability. Our work may provide a promising approach and good reference for the low-cost MS design in radar stealth applications.

Selective infrared radiation is crucial for achieving infrared stealth and heat dissipation. Artificially designed superstructure film (SF) provides several advantages for controlling and modulating infrared radiation, making them a promising solution for these applications. The research described in this work has successfully produced broadband selective infrared radiation by using a surface made up of circular patches that are combined. Numerical simulations show that this SF can achieve broadband selective radiation with 3–5 μm mid-wave infrared (MWIR) suppression and 8–14 μm long-wave infrared (LWIR) emission. The spectral selectivity can be easily switched to high emissivity in MWIR and low emissivity in LWIR by simply changing the basal layer. The resonance mechanism for achieving broadband spectral selectivity in the SF may be due to a combination of multimode plasmon resonances that are induced by the structural nonrotational symmetry of the circular patches. By applying the selective radiation SF on the tail nozzle or the vehicle, the effect of thermal management is very significant. Selective radiation SF can reduce radiant energy in the 3−5 μm band by a significant amount at 500 °C, resulting in a 46 °C cooler temperature than that at the body without the SF. At 80 °C, radiated energy in the 8–14 μm band is also considerably reduced and the temperature is 10 °C lower than that of the body without the SF. There will be obvious advantages in potential applications for infrared stealth and heat dissipation by the designed SF, a simple and convenient manufacturing process.