Performance evaluation of conducting polymer paints as radar absorbing materials (RAM)

The efficiency and performance of recently developed RAM (radar absorbing materials) based on conducting polymer paints has been investigated in the range of 8-12 GHz. The used conducting polymer in the paint formulations is the polyaniline doped with two different acids: dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA), and camphorsulfonic acid (CSA). In practice, RAM ought to be effective over a range of incidence angles; hence, this paper presents reflectivity measurements using NRL arch and radar cross section techniques, in an anechoic chamber. The RAM manufacture and its characterization were carried out at the Material Division of the Space Aeronautical Institute (IAE)/CTA-Defense Department. The results show that the attenuation and the efficiency of the microwave absorbing paints are dependent on their composition (type of polyaniline), their thickness and the incident angle of radiation.