Variable Frequency Phase Modulation on Time-Modulated Metasurface for SAR Feature Reconstruction

Time-modulated metasurfaces offer a novel technical approach for actively modulating and reconstructing radar target characteristics through their dynamic control of electromagnetic waves. However, existing SAR feature reconstruction methods based on metasurfaces are typically constrained by a one-to-one mapping mechanism where “a single metasurface unit corresponds to a single scattering center”. This results in low reconstruction efficiency and limited flexibility, hindering high-fidelity simulation of complex multi-scatterer targets. Therefore, this paper proposes a variable frequency-phase modulation method on time-modulated metasurfaces for SAR feature reconstruction. The core concept of this method involves decomposing complex targets into discrete scattering centers. By employing a “frequency-modulated continuous-phase modulation” strategy, a tailored modulation scheme is designed for each time-modulated metasurface, generating multiple adjustable false scattering center arrays in both the range and elevation dimensions of SAR imagery. Experimental results demonstrate that this method can effectively reconstruct SAR signatures highly similar to the original target, with similarity metrics exceeding 0.9. This study marks the first systematic application of frequency-modulation techniques to SAR signature reconstruction, breaking through the inherent limitations of traditional one-to-one mapping. It provides a novel theoretical framework and technical solution for achieving efficient, flexible, and high-fidelity simulation of complex target electromagnetic signatures, holding significant application value in fields such as radar countermeasures and signature camouflage.