Reflective Metasurface Based on Embroidered Meander Resonators

This paper presents a concept of reflecting meta-surface (MS) with a novel unit cell design utilizing embroidered meander resonators. The resonators are formed by a silver-coated nylon thread embroidered on a felt textile substrate and have resonant frequencies around 3 GHz. Numerical simulations and experiments with prototypes have demonstrated that the proposed MS elements have a high and relatively broadband reflection greater than -5 dB in the range 2–4 GHz. Moreover, their resonance frequency can be changed within the same range by modifying the meander arm length. Reflecting MS formed by such elements can be fixed easily on a wall of a house or a tent in urban or rural environments and used as a passive Reflective Intelligent Surface (RIS) to facilitate mobile communications in areas like mountains and deserts. To the best of our knowledge, this paper demonstrates a possibility to use a fully textile MS element for this purpose for the first time.