Dual-polarization large scan angle broadband thick-metal FSS

This paper describes the design, fabrication, and characterization of a large scan angle FSS comprised of a periodic array of dielectric-filled tapered holes as shown in Figure 1(a). The performances of three FSSs with different taper profiles and equal hexagonal lattices are compared. FSSs with cylindrical, linearly tapered, and cosine tapered holes (Figure 1(b)) show dramatically different TE and TM wide scan angle transmission responses between 18 and 27 GHz. Measurements are compared to simulation for a cosine tapered K-band thick-metal FSS that shows the widest bandwidth and largest scan angle for TE and TM transmission responses. Significant reduction in the pass-band ripple is also observed for this design.