Scattering by resistively loaded, multilayer frequency selective surfaces over two-octave bandwidth

The motivation behind examining the multilayer frequency selective surface (FSS) structures presented is to design a surface from which reflected waves maintain a constant amplitude and phase over a wide band of operation. Thin, conformable structures of less than 6.5 cm thickness are shown to operate with moderate losses over a 4:1 frequency band centered at 1 GHz. A computer model developed to analyze the response of non-commensurate multilayer FSS structures was used in the optimization and parametric studies of a two-layer FSS structure at broadside, the results of which are presented. One possible application of this surface is for use in structurally embedded reconfigurable antenna technology (SERAT). SERAT utilizes optical switching to alter the dimensions of a radiating dipole array located above a multilayer FSS, electrically reconfigurable, the antenna to operate over several octaves. The FSS ground plane maintains an effective quarter-wavelength distance between itself and the array of dipoles, creating an approximate open-circuit in the plane of the radiators over the entire band of operation.