Physics-Informed and Interpretable Machine-Learning-Assisted Design of Electromagnetic Absorbers for Radar Cross-Section Reduction in Electronic Systems

Electromagnetic scattering from electronic platforms degrades system performance, increases radar detectability, and intensifies electromagnetic interference in modern radar and communication systems. Electromagnetic absorbing layers offer an effective approach for radar cross-section (RCS) reduction; however, existing machine-learning-based design methods rely on black-box, composition-specific models lacking physical interpretability and generalizable design rules. In this work, a physics-informed and interpretable machine learning framework is proposed for application-oriented electromagnetic absorber design in electronic systems. Physically meaningful electromagnetic descriptors related to impedance matching and attenuation are embedded into an explainable learning model to establish transparent relationships between absorber parameters and reflection-related performance. Unlike prior approaches, SHAP-based interpretability is applied to extract universal, quantitative design rules, and ML-driven inverse design is explicitly validated for electronic-system-level RCS reduction. Experimental validation confirms that the predicted designs achieve reflection-related performance with deviations below 5%, demonstrating the reliability of the proposed framework.