Reconfigurable dipole chaff elements for passive standoff detection of chemical agents

Reconfigurable dipole chaff elements for the remote passive detection of chemical agents are presented in this paper. Each chaff element consists of a metallic reference dipole, and a detection dipole with a switch that changes conductivity in the presence of a chemical analyte. In the absence of an analyte, both dipoles are resonant at the same frequency; however, when the analyte is present, the resonance frequency of the detection dipole shifts. This shift in frequency is remotely detected via a RADAR system.