Realization and measurement of a wideband metamaterial absorber composed with structural composite materials

This contribution presents the realization and measurement of a metamaterial absorber first designed with RF materials and replaced by structural composite materials, i.e. fiber reinforced. First, the optimization of the absorbing material took into account the electrical characteristics of the materials compatible with the targeted application. In a second step, it was necessary to optimize the whole again to take into account the process constraints, in particular the thickness of the composite ply combining fiber and resin. After measurement, this absorbing material has a magnitude of the reflection coefficient at normal incidence less than - 13.2 dB from 5.2 GHz to 18 GHz, for a total thickness of 8.9 mm.