Mitigation of the electromagnetic radiations is essential for reliable
communication of information. The challenges lie in achieving sufficiently
good absorption over a broad range of frequencies. Considering the
applications in airborne and handheld devices where light weight, thin,
conformable and broadband absorbers are desired, numerous techniques and
methods are applied to design broadband absorbers. In this review paper, a
detailed analysis on electromagnetic absorbers including evolution, the
materials used, and characteristics such as absorption efficiency over the
years is presented. Progress on recent research on various polymer- based
and metamaterial- based microwave shields are included along with their
findings. Several prospects such as broadbanding, flexibility, multibanding
are described here. Various material and structural composition offering
good absorption performance in different frequency bands are also summarized
whose the techniques can be used for suppressing electromagnetic
interference and radar signature. The paper specifies the aspects one
encounters while designing and realizing a perfect microwave absorber.
Explored here are several works of distinguished authors which are based on
various techniques used to achieve good absorption performance with ease of
mounting.