Low-RCS high-gain partially reflecting surface antenna with metamaterial ground plane

In this communication, a high-gain partially reflecting surface (PRS) antenna with both in-band and out-of-band radar cross section (RCS) reduction (RCSR) is presented. A microstrip patch antenna acts as the source and is surrounded by the metamaterial ground plane (MGP), which is to reduce the in-band RCS of the proposed antenna. A PRS is located approximately one-half of the wavelength above the MGP to enhance the antenna directivity. In addition, an absorbing surface is adopted to reduce the out-of-band RCS. The design procedure of the antenna is illustrated, and the simulated results reveal that a significant RCSR has been accomplished in the frequency ranges of 8-17 GHz. Compared with the reference antenna, the average out-of-band RCSR is about 13 dB for both TE and TM polarization incident waves. What is more, the in-band RCSR is about 17 dB for the TM polarization incident wave. The simulated results match the measured results well, and the peak gain of the proposed antenna is 18.4 dBi at the operating frequency of 10 GHz.