Ultra-thin and flexible metasurface absorbers mounted on a highly conductive CFRP substrate

We propose two ultrathin, flexible and polarization-insensitive metasurface absorbers (MAs) for radar-cross section (RCS) reduction in UAV applications. Both absorbers are formed by resistive patches, which are arranged on a PET substrate of thickness 0.27 mm, classifying the MAs as ultrathin. A uniform MA is designed to achieve maximum absorption and serves as a starting point to synthesize a broadband periodic non-uniform and polarization-insensitive absorber. Both absorbers are mounted as a coating on carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). The measurements of the fabricated MA samples are in very good agreement with the corresponding simulations, and corroborate the MA's high absorption and broadband behavior.