Design and Fabrication of Thin Microwave Absorbers of ITO/Dielectric Structures Used for Mobile Telecommunication Frequency Bands

For the aim of thin microwave absorbers used in mobile telecommunication frequency band, this study proposed a high permittivity dielectrics(λ/4 spacer) coated with ITO thin films of 377 $\Omega$/sq(impedance transformer). High frequency dielectric properties of ferroelectric ceramics, electrical properties of ITO thin films and microwave absorbing properties of ITO/dielectrics were investigated. Ferroelectric materials including $BaTiO_3$(BT), 0.9Pb($Mg_{1}$3/Nb$_{2}$3/)$O_3$-0.1 $PbTiO_3$(PMN-PT), 0.8 Pb (Mg$_{1}$3/$Nb_{2}$3/)$O_3$-0.2 Pb($Zn_{1}$3$_Nb{2}$3/)$O_3$(PMN-PZN) were prepared by ceramic processing for high permittivity dielectrics,. The ferroelectric materials show high dielectric constant and dielectric loss in the microwave frequency range. The microwave absorbance (at 2 ㎓) of BT, 0.9PMN-0.1PT, and 0.8PMN-0.2PZN were found to be 60%(at a thickness of 3.5 mm), 20% (2.5 mm), and 30% (2.5 mm), respectively. By coating the ITO thin films on the ferroelectric substrates with λ/4 thickness, the microwave absorbance is greatly improved. Particularly, when the surface resistance of ITO films is closed of 377 $\Omega$/sq, the reflection loss is reduced to -20 ㏈(99% absorbance). This is attributed to the wave impedance matching controlled by ITO thin films at a given thickness of high permittivity dielectrics of λ/4 (3.5 mm for BT, 2.5 mm for PMN-PT and PMN-PZN at 2 ㎓). It is, therefore, successfully proposed that the ITO/ferroelectric materials with controlled surface resistance and high dielectric constant can be useful as a thin microwave absorbers in mobile telecommunication frequency band.

ITO박막/세라믹유전체 구조의 이동통신 주파수대역용 박형 전파흡수체의 설계 및 제조