Strong, omnidirectional radar backscatter from subwavelength, 3D printed metacubes

Alex W. Powell; John Ware; Joseph G. Beadle; David Cheadle; Tian Hong Loh; Alastair P. Hibbins; J. Roy Sambles

Strong, omnidirectional radar backscatter from subwavelength, 3D printed metacubes

View Fulltext

Author(s): Alex W. Powell¹ ; John Ware¹ ; Joseph G. Beadle¹ ; David Cheadle² ; Tian Hong Loh² ; Alastair P. Hibbins¹ ; J. Roy Sambles¹
- Affiliations: 1: Electromagnetic and Acoustic Materials Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy , University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL , United Kingdom ;
  2: National Physical Laboratory , Teddington , United Kingdom
Source: Volume 14, Issue 14, 25 November 2020, p. 1862 – 1868
DOI: 10.1049/iet-map.2020.0178 , Print ISSN 1751-8725, Online ISSN 1751-8733

Received 01/04/2020, Accepted 07/07/2020, Revised 01/07/2020, Published 06/08/2020

Metallic metacubes formed of six metal plate faces connected via a metal jack are shown to backscatter microwave radiation extremely powerfully. Experimental radar scattering cross-section (RCS) data from three-dimensional (3D) printed samples agrees very well with numerical model predictions, showing a monostatic RCS of 15 times the geometric cross-section. The principal resonance of the metacubes demonstrates near-complete independence of the incident angle or polarisation of the radiation, making the metacube an omnidirectional scatterer. The metacubes are fabricated via additive manufacturing from metal-coated polymer, and are extremely lightweight, making them excellent candidates for improving the radar return signals from small objects such as drones and cubesats.

References

1. 1)
  - 18. Chen, X., Jia, B., Saha, J.K., et al: ‘Broadband enhancement in thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells enabled by nucleated silver nanoparticles’, Nano Lett.., 2012, 12, pp. 2187–2192.
2. 2)
  - 20. Huang, Y., Boyle, K.: ‘Antennas: from theory to practise’ (Wiley, USA., 2008).
3. 3)
  - 9. Jie, G., Hong-Cheng, Y., Qi, J.: ‘An empirical RCS formula of bistatic Luneberg lens reflector’, Procedia Comput. Sci., 2019, 147, pp. 97–101 (Elsevier B.V.).
4. 4)
  - 10. Vinogradov, S.S., Smith, P.D., Kot, J.S., et al: ‘Radar cross-section studies of spherical lens reflectors’, Prog. Electromagn. Res., 2007, 72, pp. 325–337.
5. 5)
  - 7. Jacklin, S.A.: ‘Small-Satellite Mission Failure Rates’, NASA Technical Memo, 2018, p. 220034.
6. 6)
  - 3. Ritchie, M., Fioranelli, F., Griffiths, H., et al: ‘Micro-drone RCS analysis’. 2015 IEEE Radar Conf., Johannesburg, South Africa, 2015, pp. 452–456, doi: 10.1109/RadarConf.2015.7411926.
7. 7)
  - 4. Li, C.J., Ling, H.: ‘An investigation on the radar signatures of small consumer drones’, IEEE Antennas Wirel. Propag. Lett., 2017, 16, pp. 649–652.
8. 8)
  - 14. Yau, K.S.B.: ‘Planar multi-layer passive retrodirective Van Atta array reflectors at X-band’. 2015 Int. Symp. on Antennas and Propagation, ISAP 2015 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.), Tasmania, Australia, 2016.
9. 9)
  - 8. Li, C., Yin, J., Zhao, J., et al: ‘The selection of artificial corner reflectors based on RCS analysis’, Acta Geophys., 2012, 60, pp. 43–58.
10. 10)
  - 6. O'Malley, J.: ‘The no drone zone [airport security]’, Eng. Technol., 2019, 14, pp. 34–34.
11. 11)
  - 17. Atwater, H.A., Polman, A.: ‘Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devices’, Nature Mater., 2010, 9, pp. 205–213.
12. 12)
  - 24. Powell, A.W., Smith, J.M.: ‘Mediating Fano losses in plasmonic scatterers by tuning the dielectric environment’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 2016, 109, p. 121107.
13. 13)
  - 5. Speretta, S., Soriano, T.P., Bouwmeester, J., et al: ‘Cubesats to pocketqubes: opportunities and challenges’. 67th Int. Astronautical Congress (IAC), Beijing, China, 2016.
14. 14)
  - 23. Kawasaki, N., Meuret, S., Weil, R., et al: ‘Extinction and scattering properties of high-order surface plasmon modes in silver nanoparticles probed by combined spatially resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy and cathodoluminescence’, ACS Photonics, 2016, 3, pp. 1654–1661.
15. 15)
  - 13. Feng, M., Li, Y., Zhang, J., et al: ‘Wide-angle flat metasurface corner reflector’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 2018, 113, p. 143504.
16. 16)
  - 26. ‘NPL SMART testing chamber’, Available at: https://www.npl.co.uk/products-services/radiofrequency/smart-chamber.
17. 17)
  - 22. Terman, F.: ‘Radio engineers’ handbook’ (McGraw-Hill Book Company, USA., 1943).
18. 18)
  - 1. Bogle, R., Trizna, D.: ‘Small Boat HF Radar Cross Sections’, Naval Res. Lab. Memo. Rept., 1976, p. 3322.
19. 19)
  - 21. Wolff, E.: ‘Antenna analysis’ (John Wiley and Sons, USA., 1966).
20. 20)
  - 12. Ochodnicky, J., Matousek, Z., Babjak, M., et al: ‘Drone detection by Ku-band battlefield radar’. 2017 Int. Conf. on Military Technologies (ICMT), Brno, Czech Republic, 2017, pp. 613–616, doi:10.1109/MILTECHS.2017.7988830.
21. 21)
  - 11. Briggs, J.: ‘Target detection by marine radar’ (The Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK., 2004).
22. 22)
  - 25. Wicks, M.C., Himed, B., Bracken, L.J.E., et al: ‘Ultra narrow band adaptive tomographic radar’. IEEE CAMSAP 2005 – First Int. Workshop on Computational Advances in Multi-Sensor Adaptive Processing, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, 2005, pp. 36–39.
23. 23)
  - 15. Doumanis, E., Goussetis, G., Papageorgiou, G., et al: ‘Design of engineered reflectors for radar cross section modification’, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., 2013, 61, pp. 232–239.
24. 24)
  - 19. Wu, J.-L., Chen, F.-C., Hsiao, Y.-S., et al: ‘Surface plasmonic effects of metallic nanoparticles on the performance of polymer bulk heterojunction solar cells’, ACS Nano, 2011, 5, pp. 959–967.
25. 25)
  - 16. Powell, A.W., Wincott, M.B., Watt, A.A.R., et al: ‘Controlling the optical scattering of plasmonic nanoparticles using a thin dielectric layer’, J. Appl. Phys., 2013, 113, p. 184311.
26. 26)
  - 2. Arbuthnot, R.S., Badcoe, S.R.: ‘Enhancement of the radar echoing area of gliders at S- and X-bands’, Radio Electron. Eng., 1965, 30, pp. 123–128.

Login

Not registered yet?

Share

Tools

Login to add to favourites

Key

Strong, omnidirectional radar backscatter from subwavelength, 3D printed metacubes

References

Related content