The Integrated Design of Broadband Frequency Selective Surface and Distributed Lightning Diversion Layer

In this letter, a new integrated design of broadband frequency selective surface and lightning protection is proposed and analyzed. The broadband lightning-protected frequency selective surface (LPFSS) can conduct the lightning currents in the distributed ionizing channels between the gaps of the adjacent unit cells. The top layer of the LPFSS is a thick circular metal array fastened to the substrate, which is also used as the lightning diversion layer. The top and bottom patches can couple with the middle ring slot to generate a broadband transmission window from 7.9 GHz to 12.4 GHz with an insertion loss of less than 1 dB. Besides, the lightning attachment point test and lightning impulse current test are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the lightning protection design.