Abstract

We present an analytic model of ideal absorbing metasurfaces. These metasurfaces consist of arrays of electrically responsive elements that are placed over a ground plane, or else a corresponding array of likewise electrically responsive metamaterial elements. The coupling between the metamaterial elements and the ground plane is known to produce an overall magnetic response, and this magnetic response cancels the reflected wave from the ground plane [1, 2]. Patch antenna absorbers are unique in that they have experimentally demonstrated remarkably good absorption of transverse-magnetic waves over nearly all angles of incidence. Since the coupling between the ground plane and the patch antennas is an essential part of the behavior of the resonator, the absorber is difficult to model analytically using standard effective medium theory techniques. Other analytic models of patch antenna absorbers are scarce [4], and none attempt to model the nearly perfect off-axis absorption of the patch antenna absorber. We aim to provide a good conceptual understanding of the patch antenna absorber through a rigorous and purely analytic model for arbitrary angles of incidence.

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