Multipole Spatial Filters Using Metamaterial-Based Miniaturized-Element Frequency-Selective Surfaces

This paper presents a novel multipole miniaturized-element frequency-selective surface (FSS) having a very low thickness and a desired multipole frequency response. For this design, new miniaturized elements for the FSS are developed to achieve low thickness solution and improved functionality. The proposed FSS enables implementation of higher order spatial filters over low-profile conformal antenna arrays. First, design of a very thin-layer modified miniaturized-element FSS producing a single-pole bandpass response in addition to a transmission zero is presented. The modified design is just a single-sided circuit board with a particular unit cell consisting of a loop centered within a wire grid. Next, using a similar metallic pattern on the other side of a very thin substrate, a dual-bandpass frequency response is produced. This response is achieved by choosing proper dimensions for the loops and wire of each layer and by appropriately positioning the layers with respect to each other. To establish a benchmark, dual-pole FSSs using cascaded layers of a previously designed miniaturized-element FSS are considered. In comparison, the modified dual-bandpass design has only two metal layers, instead of four, and a single substrate, instead of three. The proposed multipole FSS has a thickness of lambda/300 which is six times thinner than the benchmark structures. Moreover, the frequency response of the new FSS shows higher out-of-band rejection values. Performance of the multipole screens is tested by fabricating FSSs with maximally flat and dual-bandpass responses and measuring their frequency responses using a standard measurement setup in a free-space environment.