Polyester-based chiral materials for microwave absorption applications

Abstract

Chiral materials are prepared by randomly embedding metallic helices in the dielectric host matrix of polyester and are studied for microwave absorption applications. An increase in the effective relative permeability of polyester-based chiral materials is reported in this paper. Electromagnetic properties of the said chiral samples are measured, using a free-space measurement technique, in the frequency range of 8-18 GHz. The reflection properties of planar chiral samples backed by a perfect conductor are studied and compared with those of a non-chiral polyester matrix. The results show that the chiral inclusions have considerably increased the effective magnetic permeability and have improved the effective dielectric permittivity of the chiral samples. These increases in effective permeability and effective permittivity of the chiral samples have resulted in enhanced absorption of electromagnetic waves in the chiral material in comparison with its non-chiral counterpart.