Abstract
The design, simulation, and fabrication results of a microstrip patch
antenna using meander line unit cells based on Polarization Conversion
Metasurface (PCM) and Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) on a
checkerboard metasurface for reducing the Radar Cross Section (RCS) are
presented in this paper. The double meander line structure acts as a PCM
and a single meander line structure rotated at 75 ◦ acts as AMC. These
unit cells achieve unity amplitude and (180±37)◦ reflection phase
difference in a frequency band of 4.5 GHz to 6.5 GHz. The proposed
antenna is a checkerboard metasurface formed by setting the patch
antenna at the middle of unit cells, which reduces RCS for normal
incidence. The microstrip patch antenna without unit cells is considered
as a reference antenna. Simulation and experimental analysis are carried
out for a frequency range of 4.5 GHz to 6.5 GHz to demonstrate the
efficacy of the proposed structure. The proposed antenna has a gain
enhancement of 3 dB and more than 20 dB RCS reduction in both x- and y
polarization at the resonance frequency of 5.5 GHz. The proposed design
significantly reduces size and mutual coupling compared to other
structures in reported works.