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A MULTIPLELAYER RADOME FOR REDUCING THE MICROSTRIP PATCH D. R. Jackson Department of Electrical Engineering University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-4793

RCS OF A

Abstract
A specific multiple-layer radome geometry for reducing the RCS of a microstrip patch antenna is presented. The radome consists of a stacked set of lossless dielectric layers whose permittivities alternate between low and , high values of E. By choosing the layer thicknesses properly, significant RCS reduction may be achieved. However, the radiation efficiency is also reduced along with the RCS, so that a tradeoff occurs.

The Multiple-Layer Radome

The specific radome geometry is shown in Fig. 1. The substrate has relative permittivity Eb and thickness b, which may both be arbitrary. The thicknesses of the N , superstrate layers are chosen according to the angle 6, for which optimum RCS reduction is to be obtained. If the indices of refraction are denoted as n; = @ the superstrate thicknesses are chosen ,
as
t l / X o = .25/4-

(1)

t z / X o = .25/4(2) with the exception of the first superstrate, whose thickness is chosen from

where z and 2 are the wave impedances of the substrate and first superb 1 strate layers, respectively, with k,b and kZt the z component wavenumbers in the layers. The wave impedances depend on the polarization of the incident wave, and are given as

z, =
where

qoN;($,)/~; Eo incidence qop;/Ni(Bp) E4 incidence

(4)

Ni($) = (5) and i = b or t . From the above equations it is seen that the radome geometry depends on both the incident angle 0, and the incident wave polarization.

90CH2776-3ANOO-0374 51.00 631990 IEEE

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However, for thin substrates ( k o b << 1) the solution of Eq. (3) is essentially indcpcndent of polarization, and is approximately

Furthermore, as will be demonstrated, the RCS reduction is very insensitive to the angle of the incident wave. Eq. (3) is a transverse resonance condition which places a short circuit at z = 0 in the transmission line model for the structure. Eqs. (1, 2) then result in alternating open and short circuit conditions at each successive interface. As the ratio e Z / E 1 becomes large the structure acts as a filter circuit, for which very little of the incident signal reaches the patch. This effect is more significant as the number of superstrate layers increases. Asymptotic forinulas will be presented to show how the RCS varies with the number and permittivity of the layers.

A fundamental equation which relates the RCS with the radiation efficiency e, of a scattering body within a layered medium [l]shows that the RCS is proportional to e,. Hence, the disadvantage of reducing the RCS too far with this geometry is a poor efficiency.

All results are shown for monostatic RCS for the case L = 1.27 cm, W = 1.5 L , Eb = 1 = 2.2, et = 2, and nlb/Xo = .02. As the parameters are varied in each figure, the frequency is changed so that the patch is always resonant (except in Fig. 4). The RCS values are normalized to 1 m 2 and expressed in dB. The numerical calculation of RCS is exactly the same as in [2,3] using a moment method solution with patch cavity basis functions. Fig. 2 shows how the RCS component A,, for broadside incidence decrcases as 2 increases, or as the number of layers increases. Fig. 3 shows thc radiation efficiency e, for this same case. It is noted that very low efficienciesare obtained for small RCS values. In both of these figures results were obtained using one patch basis function. Fig. 4 shows how the RCS varies with frequency, with fT being the resonant frequency. In thig case nine patch basis functions were used to obtain the results. For the case with no superstrates (Ne = 0), the RCS is sharply peaked at the resonant frequency, while the addition of the superstrate layers eliminates this sharply peaked response. Fig. 5 show how the RCS varies with incident angle 8,when the layer thicknesses are chosen for Op = 0. The RCS remains small for all angles, although 8 = 0 is an optimum point for N , > 3. The RCS goes to zero at
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8 = 90 since the patch does not radiate in this direction.

References
11 D. R. Jackson and N. G Alexopoulos, Scattering from a Microstrip Patch 1

in a Lossy Substrate-Superstrate Geometry, IEEE AP-S Intl. Symp., Syracuse, NY, pp. 2-5, June 1988. [2] E. H. Newman and D. Forrai, Scattering from a Microstrip Patch, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-35, pp. 245-251, March 1987. [3] D. M. Pozar, Radiation and Scattering from a Microstrip Patch on a Uniaxial Substrate, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-35, pp. 613-621, June 1987.

L
T
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w

El
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PATCH

Fig. 1 Geometry of radome for reducing the RCS of a patch mtenna. d total of Na superstrate layers are abol-e the patch ( z > 0 )

Fig. 2 A,, vs. 2 for different numbers Of Superstrate layers. 8 = 0, nltl/Xo = .25, nlt2/Xo = .25, nlb/Xo = .02, n z t l x o = .45, t l = 2.2.

Fig. 3 Radiation efficiencyfor the same case of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 A,, vs. normalized frequency f/fr for different numbers of superstrate layers, with 8 = 0. At f = f, the layer thicknesses are: nltl/Xo = .25, n h / X o = .25, nlb/Xo = .02, n2t/Xo = .45, 1 = 2.2, 6 1 = 10.0.

Fig. 5 Ass vs. 0 for %plane incidence (4 = 0) with different numbers of superstrate layers. nltl/Xo = .25, n2t2/Xo = .25, nlb/Xo = .02, nlt/Xo = .45, 1 = 2.2, 2 = 10.0.

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