Embedded dielectric water "atom" array for broadband microwave absorber based on Mie resonance

A wide band microwave absorber at X-band frequency range is demonstrated numerically and experimentally by embedding a simple rectangular structured dielectric water "atom" in flexible silicone substrate. The absorption peak of the absorber is tuned by manipulating the size of the dielectric water "atom." The frequency dispersive permittivity property of the water "atom" shows broadband absorption covering the entire X-band above 90% efficiency with varying the size of the water "atom." Mie resonance of the proposed absorber provides the desired impedance matching condition at the air-absorber interface across a wide frequency range in terms of electric and magnetic resonances. Multipole decomposition of induced current densities is used to identify the nature of observed resonances. Numerical absorptivity verifies that the designed absorber is polarization insensitive for normal incidence and can maintain an absorption bandwidth of more than 2 GHz in a wide-angle incidence. Additionally, the tunability of absorption property with temperature is shown experimentally. Published by AIP Publishing.