Characterization of a Carbon-Fiber Based Broadband Microwave Absorber

Characterization of a Carbon-Fiber Based Broadband Microwave Absorber | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Characterization of a Carbon-Fiber Based Broadband Microwave Absorber Ha Tran, Branimir Pejcinovic, Robert Doneker, Kent Thompson, Adithya Ramachandran This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4551061/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper reports the development and characterization of a novel ultrawideband microwave absorber material (MAM) based on vertically aligned carbon fibers and ferrite beads. This specific material combination and manufacturing process allows MAM design that is thin, lightweight, and broadband. The material is prepared using a flocking process in which its components are electrostatically deposited on top of an adhesive substrate. Distinct material properties of the substrate and materials layers require characterization done with two separated layers. The microwave absorption characteristics are studied first by rectangular waveguide measurements at X and Ku bands that yield complex electric permittivity and magnetic permeability of the MAM samples without any metal backing. Here, the sample is measured under transverse electric waves (TE10). Additional analysis is accomplished with full electromagnetic (EM) simulation using a high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS). The scattering parameters (S-parameters) from waveguide measurements and HFSS simulations are compared and excellent agreement is achieved. Extracted material parameters are also used to analytically calculate the reflection loss (RF) based on the transmission line model. The transmission line model shows excellent agreement with the full EM simulation results which should speed up future studies. Finally, the broadband RL performance of MAM was investigated using a free space spot probe system. The results show a MAM with broadband performance of -10 dB RL over the entire X and Ku bands. Overall, this study demonstrates that MAM developed using magnetically loaded flocked carbon fiber (MLF-CF) has a promising combination of low-cost, lightweight, and broadband performance. Electrical Engineering Materials Engineering Microwave absorber carbon fiber ferrite bead broadband lightweight low-cost X-band Ku-band EM simulation transmission line theory reflection loss. Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4551061","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":312113705,"identity":"ff654f2b-eb87-4124-8057-ef40c6687a02","order_by":0,"name":"Ha Tran","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACZgYGGwaGA0AWDzHKeSBa0kjXcpgELfbSh589Lqg5n8d3I4Hxwds2YmzhSzM3nnHsdrHkmQPMhnOJ0sLDYCbNw3Y7ccPxBjZpXuK0sH+T5vl3LnHDYQb230Rq4TEDGn4AbAszcVrO8JRJ8/YlA/1ysFlyzjkitLD3sG+T5vlmBwyx5IMf3pQRoQUGEhgYGBtIUA/RMgpGwSgYBaMABwAAFpwx/QOMUIIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Portland State University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ha","middleName":"","lastName":"Tran","suffix":""},{"id":312113706,"identity":"28d57448-2aeb-4858-bb49-65918825aa41","order_by":1,"name":"Branimir Pejcinovic","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Portland State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Branimir","middleName":"","lastName":"Pejcinovic","suffix":""},{"id":312113707,"identity":"b8daa4f7-235b-43cc-a202-ca47e166d1a2","order_by":2,"name":"Robert Doneker","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"TangiTek, LLC","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Robert","middleName":"","lastName":"Doneker","suffix":""},{"id":312113708,"identity":"6d42068b-491f-4345-b424-0885b5bebf55","order_by":3,"name":"Kent Thompson","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"TangiTek, LLC","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kent","middleName":"","lastName":"Thompson","suffix":""},{"id":312113709,"identity":"402db52a-8d8e-49bd-af6f-6433bb0dc4f2","order_by":4,"name":"Adithya Ramachandran","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"TangiTek, LLC","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adithya","middleName":"","lastName":"Ramachandran","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-06-08 15:06:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4551061/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4551061/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":58083872,"identity":"59eed52c-d257-4312-ba41-9cf5912b9d7d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-11 02:05:35","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2232754,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"HaTranSpringerMaterialsinElectronics20240601.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4551061/v1_covered_952d328f-7253-4d24-a780-a7827e3aee9e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eCharacterization of a Carbon-Fiber Based Broadband Microwave Absorber\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Portland State University","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Microwave absorber, carbon fiber, ferrite bead, broadband, lightweight, low-cost, X-band, Ku-band, EM simulation, transmission line theory, reflection loss.","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4551061/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4551061/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis paper reports the development and characterization of a novel ultrawideband microwave absorber material (MAM) based on vertically aligned carbon fibers and ferrite beads. This specific material combination and manufacturing process allows MAM design that is thin, lightweight, and broadband. The material is prepared using a flocking process in which its components are electrostatically deposited on top of an adhesive substrate. Distinct material properties of the substrate and materials layers require characterization done with two separated layers. The microwave absorption characteristics are studied first by rectangular waveguide measurements at X and Ku bands that yield complex electric permittivity and magnetic permeability of the MAM samples without any metal backing. Here, the sample is measured under transverse electric waves (TE10). Additional analysis is accomplished with full electromagnetic (EM) simulation using a high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS). The scattering parameters (S-parameters) from waveguide measurements and HFSS simulations are compared and excellent agreement is achieved. Extracted material parameters are also used to analytically calculate the reflection loss (RF) based on the transmission line model. The transmission line model shows excellent agreement with the full EM simulation results which should speed up future studies. Finally, the broadband RL performance of MAM was investigated using a free space spot probe system. The results show a MAM with broadband performance of -10 dB RL over the entire X and Ku bands. 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