A New Compact Quad-Band Metamaterial Absorber Usin

This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been
fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3009904, IEEE Access
Date of publication xxxx 00, 0000, date of current version xxxx 00, 0000.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2017.Doi Number
A New Compact Quad-Band Metamaterial Absorber Using

Interlaced I/Square Resonators: Design, Fabrication, and
Characterization
Mohamed Edries1, Hesham A. Mohamed2, Member, IEEE Sherif S. Hekal3, Member, IEEE
Mohamed A. El-morsy1, Member, IEEE and Hala A. Mansour3
1
Department of Electronics and Communication, Higher Institute of Engineering El Shorouk City, Cairo, Egypt
2
Department of Microstrip circuits, Electronics Research institute, Dokky, Cairo, Egypt
3
Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo, Egypt
Corresponding author: Mohamed Edries (e-mail: m.edries@sha.edu.eg).
ABSTRACT This paper presents the design and analysis of a new compact quad-band metamaterial absorber
(MMA). The proposed structure is constructed as an array of 12x13 unit cells, each one is based on a
combination of interlaced I/square resonators supporting four distinct resonant frequencies. The proposed
metamaterial unit cell is printed on FR-4 substrate with thickness 1.5 mm and size 20 mm × 20 mm. The
MMA structure exhibits four distinct absorption peaks at 2.248, 2.878, 4.3 and 5.872 GHz with absorption
rates of 96, 93, 93, and 95 %, respectively, under normal incidence. This design achieves a negative
permittivity and permeability that is applicable for S-band and C-band operating frequencies. The MMA unit
cell structure has a 3-dB bandwidth of 78, 89, 144 and 202.6 MHz. The proposed structure has compactness
of 0.15 𝜆0 × 0.15 𝜆0 with thickness of 0.0112 𝝀𝟎 , where 𝜆0 is the free-space wavelength with respect to the
lowest resonance frequency (2.248 GHz). The input impedance, surface currents and electric field
distributions are shown to illustrate the mechanism of the structure. The design has been fabricated showing
a good agreement between simulated and measured results. The proposed absorber structure can be used in
different applications such as electro-magnetic protections, as well as military and medical applications. All
simulation results are performed using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST), Microwave Studio 2018
software and Mathwork simulation tool MATLAB ver. 2011.
INDEX TERMS Metamaterial, Quad band Absorber, Multi band, Interlaced Resonators
I. INTRODUCTION sign of 𝜇 and 𝜀. It is convenient to describe most

During the last decade, scientific research focused on the electromagnetic materials by the quadrant where they lie in
development of the properties of materials used to give the permittivity 𝜀 and permeability 𝜇 plane. The first
special specifications according to their practical use. After quadrant lies where 𝜇 > 0 and 𝜀 > 0 and it is called Double
that, the scientists got the metamaterials (MTM), and found Positive Medium (DPM). This region contains most
that they own new properties that are not found in nature. commercially materials, and the electromagnetic waves can
There is no common definition for metamaterial; however, propagate in this media besides, it obeys Right Hand
all common descriptions of metamaterial are that they are Medium (RHM). The second quadrant is called Epsilon
artificial materials that gain their properties from the Negative Medium (ENM) and it lies in the region 𝜇 > 0 and
structure rather than from the composition which can provide 𝜀 < 0. The electromagnetic wave in this region will be
unusual electromagnetic effects difficult to be accomplished evanescent such as plasmas. The third quadrant lies where 𝜇
by nature materials [1]. The metamaterials are utilized in < 0 and 𝜀 > 0. Similarly, in this region, the incident
numerous engineering applications for example, perfect lens electromagnetic wave will be decay evanescent such as
[2], cloaking [3], and absorbers [4]. Two parameters define ferrites. Double Negative Medium (DNM) is the fourth
the response of a material; the electric permittivity 𝜀, and the quadrant where 𝜇 < 0 and 𝜀 < 0. The electromagnetic wave
magnetic permeability 𝜇, so the propagation of the will obey Left Hand Medium (LHM) where the wave will be
electromagnetic wave inside any material depends on the propagated in the opposite direction of propagation and this
VOLUME XX, 2017 1
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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
region contains the artificial materials or metamaterial as it The simulation results of the proposed metamaterial absorber
is defined in [5]. The first metamaterial absorber was and its discussion are explained in section 4. The measured
designed by Landy in 2008 [6]. This unit cell absorber results are discussed and compared with the simulated data
consists of two metallic elements which are the electric in section 5. Finally, the conclusion is written in section 6.
resonator and the cut wire as a ground plane. The structural Simulation results in this paper are investigated by using
element that builds up a metamaterial is developed to exhibit Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave Studio
either an electric/magnetic response or a resonance at certain version 2018.
frequency. Metamaterials are designed through different
forms of split rings or periodic structures fabricated from II. UNIT CELL STRUCTURE DESIGN
highly conductive materials like gold, silver, or copper [7]. Fig. 1a shows the geometry of the proposed quad-band
Metamaterials absorbers can be designed to resonate for metamaterial absorber unit cell. The structure of metamaterial
single, dual, multiple, wide, or reconfigurable bands. In case absorber unit cell is composed of three metallic shapes entitled
of multi-bands, a new ultrathin triple band polarization as Structure-A which is a square split ring resonator (SRR) (in
independent MMA was proposed in [8] which consists of Fig. 1b), Structure-B which is a modified I-section (in Fig. 1c),
two resonators; both the resonators are printed on FR-4 and Structure-C which is a modified square open-loop with a
substrate of thickness 0.8 mm. The structure offers three slot in middle section (in Fig. 1d). Thanks to quasi static
distinct absorption peaks of 99.7 %, 99.5 %, and 99.4 % with modelling, the start is initial design parameters depending on
bandwidth of 170, 350, and 480 MHz at 4.2, 9.4, and 11.5 its RLC equivalent circuit components then parametric
GHz, respectively. A quad-band polarization emancipated optimization is used to control the impedance matching at the
ultrathin metamaterial absorber was proposed in [9]. Four proposed absorption frequencies. Each of the shapes are
resonance bands were achieved with absorption greater than associated with the different absorption peaks. A continuous
94 %. The design consists of square rings resonators copper ground plate backs these shapes. Each with thickness
arranged in two dimensional periodic arrays. The resonators 0.035 mm and conductivity of 𝜎 = 5.96 × 107 S/m. A
were printed on FR-4 substrate with thickness of 1 mm. The commercially available substrate lossy dielectric flame
resonant frequency bands are at 3.75, 5.05, 7.35, and 8.96 retardant (FR-4) material separated the structure of
GHz with absorption rates of 94.28 %, 99.67 %, 99.98 % and metamaterial absorber unit cell and the ground plane. It has a
99.9 %, respectively. A quad band polarization-insensitive dielectric constant of 4.3 with 0.025 loss tangent and thickness
metamaterial absorber based on LC resonator has been of h = 1.5 mm. The proposed metamaterial absorber unit cell
proposed in [10]. The structural design is based on electric has a total size of 20 mm × 20 mm × 1.5 mm. Due to its
field-driven LC resonators. The unit cell structural design for complicated design, it requires rigorous parametric
normal incidence, shows absorption peaks at four different optimization to control the absorption frequencies and to
absorption frequencies of 5.76, 6.64, 10.80 and 12.88 GHz achieve normalized impedance equal or near to unity. The
with absorption rates of 99.38, 98.52, 95.65 and 98.25 %, design parameters of the proposed unit cell are demonstrated
respectively. in Table I.
TABLE I
In this article, we introduce a new compact quad-band
DESIGN PARAMETERS OF THE PROPOSED METAMATERIAL ABSORBER UNIT
metamaterial absorber which is based on a combination of CELL
interlaced I/square resonators that support four distinct Design Parameters Value (mm)
resonant frequencies. The compactness is achieved due to the X 20
coupling between the resonators of the unit cell. Our Y 20
L1 20
structure produces multi-band metamaterial in frequency w1 1
bands up to 8 GHz and has the lowest frequency at 2.248 L3 10.44
GHz. L4 4.44
L5 0.7
In this paper, the design and analysis of quad-band
L6 11.1
metamaterial absorber based on a combination of three w2 0.72
shapes are presented. The absorption mechanism of the L7 15.7
proposed structure is explained by the input impedance, w3 0.85
L8 9.72
surface currents and electric field distributions. The R1 4
characteristics of the metamaterial absorber are explained by R2 1
the dispersion diagram. The paper is constructed in different g1 11.64
h 1.5
sections. The introduction and the overview on metamaterial
definition, applications, and classification are introduced in
section 1. Section 2 explains the unit cell structure design.
Section 3 discusses the analysis of the metamaterial unit cell.
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h
S
U
B
S
T
R
A
T
E
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
FIGURE 1. Proposed quad-band unit cell absorber (a) Proposed metamaterial quad-band absorber which consists of a combination of: (b)
Structure-A, (c) Structure-B, and (d) Structure-C
III. UNIT CELL ANALYSIS

The metamaterial unit cell has been simulated using a
Computer Simulation Technology (CST) microwave studio
based on the Finite Integration Technique (FIT). The
simulation setup of the proposed metamaterial unit cell is
illustrated in Fig. 2. The unit cell is placed between two
waveguide ports along the negative and positive z-axis. The
perfect electric conductor boundary was placed perpendicular
to the x-axis (𝐸𝑡 = 0), whereas the ideal magnetic conductor FIGURE 2. The simulation setup of the proposed metamaterial unit cell
is perpendicular to the y-axis (𝐻𝑡 = 0), and open in z
direction. A tetrahedral mesh of frequency domain solver with To study and understand the performance and the
an adaptive mesh scheme was used for both the array electromagnetic characteristics of the proposed metamaterial
configuration and the unit cell investigation. absorber, the scattering parameters; the reflection coefficient
𝑆11 and the transmission coefficient 𝑆21 are examined. The
proposed structure in Fig. 1a is simulated by Computer
Simulation Technology (CST) for normal incidence of
electromagnetic wave and the output S-parameters are
exported to MATLAB. The absorptivity of the metamaterial
structure 𝐴(𝜔) can be calculated mathematically as [11]:
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Author Name: Preparation of Papers for IEEE Access (February 2017)
𝐴(𝜔) = 1 − |𝑆11 (𝜔)|2 − |𝑆21 (𝜔)|2 = 1 − |𝑆11 (𝜔)|2 (1) method [15], NIST iterative technique [16] and Nicolson-
Ross-Weir (NRW) approach [17].
The continuous metal ground plate blocks the incident wave Nicolson-Ross-Weir (NRW) approach had been chosen in
from transmission resulting zero transmission coefficient, i.e., this article. Compared to other approaches, such as NIST
𝑆21 = 0. iterative technique [16] and free-space method [15], NRW
Reflection coefficient under normal incident can be approach provides an easy and simple calculation method. The
calculated by using (2) as [12]: metamaterial absorber S-parameters extracted from CST
𝑍(𝜔) − 𝑍0 simulator have been exported to MATLAB to calculate the
Γ(𝜔) = (2)
𝑍(𝜔) + 𝑍0 effective parameters of the absorber. The effective parameters
Where 𝑍(𝜔) is the input impedance of the metamaterial of the metamaterial absorber such as relative permittivity 𝜀𝑟 ,
absorber, and 𝑍0 is the free space impedance which is equal to relative permeability 𝜇𝑟 , relative impedance 𝑍𝑟 , and relative
120 π or 377 Ω. To accomplish zero reflection, i.e., full refractive index 𝑛𝑟 can be calculated as follows:
2 1 − 𝑉1
absorption (matching), the metamaterial impedance 𝑍(𝜔) and 𝜀𝑟 = ∗ (6)
the free space impedance 𝑍0 should be equal to each other. 𝑗𝐾0 𝑑 1 + 𝑉1
The input impedance of the metamaterial absorber 𝑍(𝜔) is
dependent on the relative parameters of the medium such as 2 1 − 𝑉2
the relative permittivity 𝜀𝑟 and the relative permeability 𝜇𝑟 . 𝜇𝑟 = ∗ (7)
𝑗𝐾0 𝑑 1 + 𝑉2
Hence, the metamaterial impedance 𝑍(𝜔) can be expressed as
[13]:
𝜇(𝜔) 𝜇0 𝜇𝑟 (𝜔) 𝜇0 𝜇𝑟 (𝜔) 𝜇𝑟 (𝜔) (1 + 𝑆11 )2 − 𝑆21 2
Z(𝜔) = √ =√ =√ √ (3) 𝑍𝑟 = √ =√ (8)
𝜀(𝜔) 𝜀0 𝜀𝑟 (𝜔) 𝜀0 𝜀𝑟 (𝜔) 𝜀𝑟 (𝜔) (1 − 𝑆11 )2 − 𝑆21 2
𝜇𝑟 (𝜔) 𝑐 (𝑆21 − 1)2 − 𝑆11 2

Z(𝜔) = 𝑍0 √ (4) 𝑛𝑟 = √𝜇𝑟 (𝜔)𝜀𝑟 (𝜔) = ∗√ (9)
𝜀𝑟 (𝜔) 𝑗𝜋𝑓𝑑 (𝑆21 + 1)2 − 𝑆11 2
Hence, by substitution of after compensation (4) into (2), the Where, 𝐾0 is the wave number, 𝐾0 = 𝜔⁄𝑐 , 𝑐 is the speed of
reflection coefficient Γ(𝜔) can be calculated as: light, and 𝑑 is the substrate thickness.
The composite terms of addition and subtraction of S-
𝜇 (𝜔) parameters can be represented as 𝑉1 and 𝑉2 which can be
√ 𝑟 −1
𝜀𝑟 (𝜔) 𝑍𝑟 − 1 expressed in (10) and (11) as follows:
Γ(𝜔) = = (5) 𝑉1 = 𝑆21 + 𝑆11 (10)
𝑍𝑟 + 1
𝜇 (𝜔)
√ 𝑟 +1
𝜀𝑟 (𝜔)
𝑉2 = 𝑆21 − 𝑆11 (11)
Where, 𝑍𝑟 is the relative impedance which can determined
as the square root of the ratio of the relative permeability and IV. SIMULTION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
the relative permittivity 𝑍𝑟 = √𝜇𝑟 (𝜔)⁄𝜀𝑟 (𝜔), As explained before, the performance and the electromagnetic
In the frequency domain, all materials can be described characteristics of the proposed quad-band metamaterial
electrically by their complex permittivity 𝜀 and permeability absorber shown as in Fig. 1a can be examined by the scattering
𝜇. These constitutive parameters determine the response of the parameters; the reflection coefficient 𝑆11 and the transmission
material to the electromagnetic (EM) radiation. The specific coefficient 𝑆21 . Fig. 3 illustrates the absorptivity curves for the
knowledge of the complex permittivity and permeability is individual structures of the quad-band metamaterial absorber
very important to determine where the materials are used. unit cell; Structure-A, Structure-B, and Structure-C. It is
There are several methods to determine the effective observed that each structure is responsible for resonating at a
permittivity and permeability using the complex values of the different frequency. It can be observed that Structure-A has
scattering parameters; such as reflection coefficient 𝑆11 and one absorption peak at 2.24 GHz with absorption peak of 98.3
transmission coefficient 𝑆21 . One of them is parametrically %, also Structure-B has one absorption peak at 2.8 GHz with
fitting the S-parameter measurement data to known absorptivity of 84 %, while Structure-C consists of two
permittivity (e.g., a Drude model [14]) and permeability (e.g., absorption bands at 4.2 and 5.7 GHz with peak absorptivity of
a Lorentz model [14]). However, these methods make distinct 95.7 and 99.97 %, respectively. The quad-band metamaterial
assumptions about the form of the permittivity and absorber unit cell is constructed by combining the three
permeability. Therefore, other methods are used to directly structures. After combining these structures to construct the
retrieve the permittivity and permeability such as free-space proposed unit cell as shown in Fig. 1a. The proposed
2 VOLUME XX, 2017
metamaterial absorber demonstrates four resonant absorption incidence as shown in Fig. 5 (a). The polarization angles (𝜑)
peaks as illustrated in Fig. 4. The simulation results in Fig. 4 vary from 00 to 900 with step size angle of 150 . From
of the proposed quad-band metamaterial absorber unit cell Fig. 5 (a), it can be observed that the proposed metamaterial
shows the reflection coefficient 𝑆11 , which evidently presents absorber structure exhibits the same response, i.e., the same
four resonant absorption peaks at 2.248 GHz and 2.878 GHz, absorptivity for different polarization angles (𝜑). The
in the S-band and 4.3 GHz and 5.872 GHz in the C-band with symmetry of the absorber gives the polarization insensitivity
3-dB bandwidth of 78, 89, 144, and 202.6 MHz respectively. of the proposed absorber MMA structure.
The absorption curve of the proposed quad-band metamaterial Further, the absorption properties of the proposed quad-
absorber is also displayed in Fig. 4, which indicates that this band metamaterial absorber are discussed under varying the
absorber has four good absorption peaks with absorptivity of incidence angles 𝜃. Fig. 5 (b) shows the absorption properties
96, 93, 93 and 95 %, respectively, for all four resonant corresponding to the different incidence angles of 00 , 150 ,
frequencies. The absorptivity 𝐴(𝜔) can be calculated from (1). 300 , and 450 . It can be observed that, at the four resonant
A negligible shift in the last two frequency bands and variation frequencies, the proposed metamaterial absorber structure
in absorption peaks was observed after combining the behaves a good absorption more than 80 % up to 450 of
structures. This is caused by the coupling between the incidence angles.
structures.
4.2 5.7
2.24
GHz GHz GHz
H
2.8
GHz 𝜑
E
FIGURE 5 (a). Absorption curves of the proposed metamaterial

absorber at different polarization angles (𝝋) under normal incidence
FIGURE 3. Absorptivity curve for the individual structures
FIGURE 5 (b). Absorption curves of the proposed metamaterial

FIGURE 4. The simulated reflection (blue line) and the absorption (red absorber at different incidence angles (𝜽)
line) curves of the proposed quad-band absorber
As we described later, S-parameters can be used to calculate
To study the polarization insensitivity of the proposed quad- the effective parameters of the metamaterial such as relative
band metamaterial absorber, the direction of propagation of permittivity 𝜀𝑟 , relative permeability 𝜇𝑟 , relative impedance
the electro-magnetic waves remains constant, while the 𝑍𝑟 and relative refractive index 𝑛𝑟 by using several methods.
direction of both electric field (E) and magnetic field (H) are Mathematically, to retrieve the complex valued parameters for
rotating at different polarization angles (𝜑) under normal
2 VOLUME XX, 2017
the relative parameters of the proposed absorber, both the

reflection coefficient 𝑆11 and the transmission coefficient 𝑆21
data are needed. Important to mention, we use full backed
ground plane which prevent transmission, i.e., 𝑆21 = 0. To
avoid the zero 𝑆21 , four identical squares with areas
(1.5 mm × 1.5 mm) are cut out at the four corners of the ground
plane (bottom layer) of the unit cell [18]. It should be noted
that, these four square areas are small enough to provide non-
zero but rather low transmission. In addition, it also has small
effects on the reflection coefficient 𝑆11 and the resonant
frequencies.
To verify the absorptivity of the proposed quad-band
metamaterial absorber, relative impedance 𝑍𝑟 is retrieved.
Relative impedance can be calculated from complex S-
parameters by using (8). The normalized input impedance of FIGURE 6. Normalized input impedance of the proposed quad-band
the proposed quad-band metamaterial absorber is shown in metamaterial unit cell absorber
Fig. 6. Both the real and the imaginary parts of the relative
impedance are explained in Fig. 6. It is observed that, at the
four resonant frequencies 2.248, 2.878, 4.3, and 5.872 GHz,
the real part of the normalized input impedance is close to/near
unity, while the imaginary part is close to zero i.e., matching
with free space impedance. Hence, a small amount of
reflection and approximate maximum absorption is achieved.
Real and imaginary impedances at the resonant frequencies for
the proposed quad-band absorber are listed in Table II.
TABLE II
REAL AND IMAGINARY IMPEDANCES OF THE PROPOSED
METAMATERIAL ABSORBER AT RESONANT FREQUENCIES
Impedance Frequency (GHz)
2.248 2.878 4.3 5.872
Real (Z) 1.08 1.57 1.18 0.68
Imaginary (Z) -0.42 -0.37 0.55 0.19
Besides, the effective parameters of the metamaterial such

FIGURE 7. The retrieved results of the quad-band metamaterial unit
as relative permittivity 𝜀𝑟 , relative permeability 𝜇𝑟 , and cell absorber; the real (solid line) and the imaginary (dash line) parts
relative refractive index 𝑛𝑟 are illustrated in Fig. 7 to define of the relative permittivity, permeability, and refractive index
the properties of the metamaterial. As the arrows shown in To understand the physical mechanism of the proposed
Fig. 7. It can clearly be seen that the dispersions of the relative metamaterial absorber structure, the surface current and the
permittivity 𝜀𝑟 , relative permeability 𝜇𝑟 are almost close to electric field distributions for the four absorption peaks
each other (𝑅𝑒(𝜀𝑟 ) ≈ 𝑅𝑒(𝜇𝑟 ), (𝐼𝑚(𝜀𝑟 ) ≈ 𝐼𝑚(𝜇𝑟 )) at the 2.248 GHz, 2.878 GHz, 4.3 GHz, and 5.872 GHz under
resonant frequencies. The imaginary parts of the permeability normal incidence are clarified in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, respectively
have magnitudes of 61, 100.71, 65.78, and 28 at the absorption [19]. Where the red shows the strong concentration and the
peaks of the resonant frequencies, which prove that the blue indicates the weak one. It can be observed that, at the first
proposed quad-band absorber gives strong magnetic frequency 2.248 GHz, the maximum concentration of the
resonance. It is also obvious that the imaginary part of the surface current and the electric field distribution is achieved
refractive index is very large, in the frequency bands, which is by Structure-A, while Structure-B is responsible for the
one essential condition in perfect metamaterial absorber second resonant frequency at 2.878 GHz. The last two
design. absorption peaks 4.3 GHz and 5.872 GHz are accomplished
by Structure-C. Fig. 8 displays the surface current distributions
on the top and bottom metallic layers for the four distinct
resonances of the metamaterial absorber unit cell. From Fig.
8, it is observed that the surface current densities on the top
and bottom surfaces are in anti-parallel directions which form
a circulating current loop around the incident magnetic field
creating the magnetic excitation at the absorption frequencies.
In addition, this circulating current controls the permeability.
2 VOLUME XX, 2017
On the other hand, the electric field distribution of the top

metallic of the unit cell shape is excited by the electric field,
thus forming the electric excitation as shown in Fig. 9.
Moreover, the electric fields regulate the permittivity. Both the
electric and magnetic excitations occur simultaneously to
achieve high absorption at all these frequencies.
Top Layer Bottom Layer
(a) 2.248 GHz (b) 2.878 GHz
(a) 2.248 GHz
(c) 4.3 GHz (d) 5.872 GHz

Figure 9. Electric field distribution for the proposed absorber at the four
absorption peaks
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Before fabricating the proposed quad-band metamaterial
absorber, there are some arguments to be taken into
consideration. One of them is the bigger the fabricated design
is, the fewer differences between the measured and the
simulated results are, yet the narrower the main lobe in the
(b) 2.878 GHz
scattered field pattern and the fewer angle of incidence can be
measured. Another important point is the limitation of the
manufactured machine that provides the maximum prototype
size allowed to be fabricated. Hence, getting into account the
previous considerations a trade-off solution has been adopted.
A 12 × 13 array of unit cells of the proposed quad-band
metamaterial absorber is manufactured using a double UV
exposure system CSV 4050 and an etching machine
BUNGRAD Jet 34d over 1.5 mm FR-4 substrate. Thus, the
overall dimensions of the fabricated structure of the proposed
quad-band metamaterial absorber are 26 cm × 26 cm × 1.5 cm
(c) 4.3 GHz
as shown in Fig. 10. In the experimental setup, the anechoic
chamber contains a standard gain horn antenna R&S HF907
(1 – 18 GHz) which is connected to a vector network analyzer
R&S ZVB8 and a sample holder. The schematic diagram of
the experimental setup for the proposed quad-band absorber is
illustrated in Fig. 11.
(d) 5.872 GHz

FIGURE 8. Surface current distribution of the proposed metamaterial
absorber for the four resonant peaks
2 VOLUME XX, 2017
FIGURE 10. Fabricated prototype of the proposed quad-band

metamaterial absorber
FIGURE 12. The actual reflection coefficient compared to the simulated

one of the proposed quad-band absorber
Horn
Metamaterial antenna
Metamaterial
Absorber
Horn
Incident
absorber Wave Antenna
R&S
Reflected
Wave R&S ZVB8
Vector Network
Analyzer
FIGURE 11. The schematic diagram of the measurement setup of the

proposed quad-band absorber
First of all, the horn antennas are placed at 1 m from the

prototype metamaterial absorber to provide the far-field
condition and the angle between the two antennas is nearly 7.5
FIGURE 13. Simulated and measured absorption of the proposed quad-
degree to provide normal incidence. A plane copper sheet band metamaterial absorber
(reference plane) has the same size as the proposed
It is clear that the measured results have four distinct
metamaterial absorber is placed on the sample holder to
frequencies 2.26, 2.9, 4.35, and 5.97 GHz, with absorptivity of
measure the reflection coefficient. This value is taken as a
95.45, 92.33, 93.27, and 96.61 % respectively. The
reference data. After that, the fabricated prototype quad-band
comparison between the measured and simulated results
absorber is placed at the same place of the reference plane and
shows a good agreement between them, except for the ripples
is used to measure the reflection coefficient of the absorber.
in the non-absorption band and some minor shift in the
The actual reflectance from the proposed metamaterial
frequency bands. This is because of the limited size of the
absorber is calculated by the difference of the reflected power
proposed absorber, fabrication tolerance, and measurement
from the absorber than that of the reference plane as shown in
inaccuracies.
Fig. 12. This process is called normalization. The measured
The performance of our proposed quad-band metamaterial
reflection coefficients in the two cases contain the same
absorber is compared with the previous multiband published
imperfections such as scattering loss, diffraction loss, edge
metamaterial absorber structures and listed in Table III. The
reflection, etc., which were canceled in the subtraction. The
comparison among the absorbers is in terms of unit cell
measured absorptivity is compared with the simulation as
dimensions, number of absorption bands, and the thickness
shown in Fig. 13. The absorption can be calculated from (1),
performance. The unit cell compactness is one of the most
knowing that the full ground plane prevents transmission, i.e.,
essential factors. The compactness of the absorber is the ratio
𝑆21 = 0.
of the size of the cell structure to the wavelength. To make a
fair comparison, all metamaterials should be fabricated on the
same dielectric FR-4 and they need to be operated in the
frequency band up to 12 GHz. It can be observed that our
2 VOLUME XX, 2017
proposed metamaterial absorber represents a multiband has the lowest frequency which indicates to the compactness
frequency resonances with absorption peaks in the frequency thickness of 0.0112 𝜆0 , where 𝜆0 is the free-space wavelength
bands up to 8 GHz with the lowest frequency of 2.248 GHz with respect to the lowest resonance frequency.
compared to other structures. In addition, our proposed quad-
band metamaterial absorber is competitive to other structures
regarding the thickness. Our proposed metamaterial absorber
TABLE III
COMPARISON OF THE PROPOSED METAMATERIAL ABSORBER WITH THE PREVIOUS MULTIBAND METAMATERIAL ABSORBER
Lowest Thickness
Unit cell Maximum No. of
absorpti corresponding Absorption frequencies
Ref. dimension absorption absorption
on peak to lowest (GHz)
(mm2) rate (%) bands
(GHz) frequency
This
20 × 20 2.24 0.0112 𝜆0 96 4 2.24, 2.87, 4.30, and 5.87
work
[8] 8×8 4.19 0.0111 𝜆0 99.67 3 4.19, 9.34, and 11.48
[9] 23 × 23 3.75 0.0125 𝜆0 99.9 4 3.75, 5.05, 7.35, and 8.96
[10] 17 × 17 5.76 0.0192 𝜆0 99.38 4 5.76, 6.64, 10.80, and 12.88
[20] 22 × 22 8.34 0.0417 𝜆0 99.1 4 8.34, 9.12, 10.29, and 11.70
[21] 20 × 20 4.34 0.0115 𝜆0 98.5 4 4.34, 6.68, 8.58, and 10.64
[22] 23 × 23 3.91 0.0130 𝜆0 99.85 4 3.91, 5.16, 7.10, and 9.16
[23] 10 × 10 6.69 0.0223 𝜆0 98.94 4 6.69, 8.70, 11.90, and 15.14
[24] 20 × 20 6.69 0.0254 𝜆0 99 4 6.69, 7.48, 8.67, and 9.91
[25] 25 × 25 6.45 0.0258 𝜆0 98 4 6.45, 7.40, 9.10, and 11.00
unit cell dimensions, the absorptivity, and the number of

VI. CONCLUSION absorption bands. It has been observed that our fabricated
This paper has presented the design, characterization, and design has the highest compactness and the lowest operating
fabrication of a new compact quad-band metamaterial frequency of 2.248 GHz. The proposed absorber structure can
absorber (MMA) using interlaced I/Square resonators. The be used in different applications such as electro-magnetic
proposed quad-band MMA was designed with compact size protections, as well as military and medical applications.
of 20 mm × 20 mm ×1.5 mm to operate at four resonant
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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

A New Compact Quad-Band Metamaterial Absorber Using

Corresponding author: Mohamed Edries (e-mail: m.edries@sha.edu.eg).

I. INTRODUCTION sign of 𝜇 and 𝜀. It is convenient to describe most

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III. UNIT CELL ANALYSIS

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𝜇𝑟 (𝜔) 𝑐 (𝑆21 − 1)2 − 𝑆11 2

2 VOLUME XX, 2017

FIGURE 5 (a). Absorption curves of the proposed metamaterial

FIGURE 5 (b). Absorption curves of the proposed metamaterial

2 VOLUME XX, 2017

the relative parameters of the proposed absorber, both the

Besides, the effective parameters of the metamaterial such

2 VOLUME XX, 2017

On the other hand, the electric field distribution of the top

(a) 2.248 GHz (b) 2.878 GHz

(a) 2.248 GHz

(c) 4.3 GHz (d) 5.872 GHz

(d) 5.872 GHz

2 VOLUME XX, 2017

FIGURE 10. Fabricated prototype of the proposed quad-band

FIGURE 12. The actual reflection coefficient compared to the simulated

FIGURE 11. The schematic diagram of the measurement setup of the

First of all, the horn antennas are placed at 1 m from the

2 VOLUME XX, 2017

[8] 8×8 4.19 0.0111 𝜆0 99.67 3 4.19, 9.34, and 11.48

[9] 23 × 23 3.75 0.0125 𝜆0 99.9 4 3.75, 5.05, 7.35, and 8.96

[10] 17 × 17 5.76 0.0192 𝜆0 99.38 4 5.76, 6.64, 10.80, and 12.88

[20] 22 × 22 8.34 0.0417 𝜆0 99.1 4 8.34, 9.12, 10.29, and 11.70

[21] 20 × 20 4.34 0.0115 𝜆0 98.5 4 4.34, 6.68, 8.58, and 10.64

[22] 23 × 23 3.91 0.0130 𝜆0 99.85 4 3.91, 5.16, 7.10, and 9.16

[23] 10 × 10 6.69 0.0223 𝜆0 98.94 4 6.69, 8.70, 11.90, and 15.14

[24] 20 × 20 6.69 0.0254 𝜆0 99 4 6.69, 7.48, 8.67, and 9.91

[25] 25 × 25 6.45 0.0258 𝜆0 98 4 6.45, 7.40, 9.10, and 11.00

unit cell dimensions, the absorptivity, and the number of

2 VOLUME XX, 2017

VOLUME XX, 2017 9

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