Shielding Effectiveness of a Metamaterial Slab

A study of the shielding properties of a metamaterial slab is presented. The metamaterial nature of the slab arises from the negative values of its effective scalar dielectric permittivity in the considered low- frequency region of operation. Such an effective permittivity is the result of a homogenization process of an actual periodic structure which consists of a finite number of periodic layers of thin conducting cylinders embedded in a dielectric matrix, screening an E-polarized plane wave. When the incident plane wave is arbitrarily polarized, a more sophisticated model for the effective permittivity has to be employed which takes into account anisotropy and spatial dispersion. Comparisons with conventional planar metal screens show that the proposed structure can be designed to be advantageous in terms of low density and weight savings.