Design and Fabrication of Metamaterial Absorbers Used for RF-ID

Radio frequency identification (RF-ID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. In response to the need to suppress the electromagnetic interference between adjacent RF-ID equipment or systems, this study aims to achieve a thin and multi-resonance absorber using metamaterials composed of patterned grids on a grounded dielectric substrate in the frequency region of UHF and microwaves. A computational tool (ANSYS HFSS) was used to model and estimate the reflection coefficient and surface current distribution. The samples used to measure reflection loss were fabricated by the printed circuit board (PCB) method in which a copper film was deposited on both sides of a photo-sensitized board. The reflection loss was measured using a free space measurement system, composed of a pair of horn antennas and network analyzer. The grid-patterned metamaterial absorbers exhibited dual-band absorption peaks at 0.88 GHz and 2.45 GHz with a small substrate thickness (about 3.7 mm) that can be usefully applied to electromagnetic compatibility in RF-ID system. Magnetic coupling is achieved via anti-parallel currents in the grid conductor on the top layer and the ground conductor on the bottom layer. Since the magnetic response is influenced by the dimension of the resonators, it is possible to achieve two resonances by scaling the resonating structures. The metamaterial absorbers also exhibited good oblique incidence performance. A high level of absorption (above 10 dB) was maintained at up to 30 degrees of incidence angle for both TE and TM polarization.