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Electronics

Protecting the weak from the strong

Nature volume 505, pages 490–491 (2014)Cite this article

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A thin engineered surface has been developed that can protect sensitive electronic systems from strong signal interference, allowing them to communicate effectively with external antennas.

Conventional microwave absorbers have several uses, including in controlling unwanted signal reflections from antennas and radars, and in protecting sensitive communications electronics from strong interfering signals. Typically, these absorbers are made from a host material loaded with conducting iron- or carbon-based particles to absorb microwave energy and convert it into heat. A common feature of these absorbers is that the percentage of microwave power that is absorbed does not depend on the power of the incoming waves. Therefore, such devices cannot differentiate between strong signals, which can be harmful to communications electronics, and the weak signals that are needed for wireless communications with antennas. Writing in Physical Review Letters, Wakatsuchi et al.1 report an engineered surface (metasurface) that can absorb high-power microwave pulses but allow weaker signals to propagate.

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Figure 1: A metasurface microwave absorber.

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References

  1. Wakatsuchi, H., Kim, S., Rushton, J. J. & Sievenpiper, D. F. Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 245501 (2013).

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  1. George V. Eleftheriades is in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G4, Canada.,

    George V. Eleftheriades

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  1. George V. Eleftheriades
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Correspondence to George V. Eleftheriades.

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Eleftheriades, G. Protecting the weak from the strong. Nature 505, 490–491 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12852

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