This study intends to provide a comprehensive review of the basic concepts, types, applications, and experimental studies of frequency selective rasorber (FSR) presented in the literature. Analyzing the characteristics of FSR became crucial for future adaptability when taking into consideration of immense development in RADAR, military, stealth, and electromagnetic interference applications. The rasorber was initially conceived as a radome for antennas and it was developed expeditiously in recent years. This survey is focused on evaluating the unit cell design (2D, 2.5D, and 3D), equivalent circuit model, polarization characteristics, fractional bandwidth, insertion loss, absorptivity, bandwidth enhancement for absorption, transmission, and their applications based on the FSR. Various techniques like exploiting lumped elements, magnetic materials, lumped components, dual/triple layer structures, varactor diodes, PIN diodes, and distributed elements (slots and stubs) are used to improve the novelty and performance of the FSR that are discussed in the works of literature. At last, these techniques, bandwidth, structures, and performances are compared based on their relative positions to feature the benefits and limitations.

A 3D-printed polarization-independent low-cost lightweight and flexible frequency selective surface based dual-band microwave absorber is presented in this paper. Two concentric square loops fabricated at different heights using 3D printing technology are responsible for exhibiting dual-band responses at 3.32 GHz (S-band) and 5.46 GHz (C-band) with more than 97% absorptivities. The corresponding full widths at half maximum bandwidths are observed as 230 MHz (3.21–3.44 GHz) and 450 MHz (5.27–5.72 GHz). The proposed topology is polarization-insensitive owing to the four-fold symmetry. The absorption phenomenon is explained with the analysis of current distributions at the surface and impedance curves at the frequencies of resonance. Further, the performance has been evaluated for both planar and curved surfaces with different angles of curvature, and the good agreement between the measured and simulated responses confirms the flexible behavior of the proposed structure.

A design of a microwave absorber based on frequency selective surface resonating in X-band having ultrathin thickness, polarization controlled behavior, and increased absorption bandwidth has been reported. The reported absorber having its unit cell embodied of multiple resonating structures which includes conventional square, circular, and butterfly shaped resonators resulting in three absorption apexes at 9.44, 10.00, and 10.53 GHz (all in X band) with 99.9%, 99%, and 95.1% of absorptivity obtained at the frequencies of resonances. It demonstrates a wide full width at half maximum having 1.48 GHz as bandwidth, at the expense of using an ultrathin substrate of 0.0096 λ0, where λ0 is the wavelength with respect to lowest resonating frequency, i.e. 9.44 GHz. The unit cell is fourfold symmetric exhibiting independence about the absorber’s polarity, as well as, it behaves stable over the outspread angle up to 45 degrees for both transverse magnetic and transverse electric polarized wave under sloped incident angle. The absorption behavior has been demonstrated by plotting the distribution of surface-currents and electric fields at the frequencies of resonance. The fabricated prototype of the presented design is tested at X-band and the obtained results concur with the simulated results.

Sensors based on metamaterial absorbers are very promising when it comes to high sensitivity and quality factor, cost, and ease of fabrication. The absorbers could be used to sense physical parameters such as temperature, pressure, density as well as they could be used for determining electromagnetic properties of materials and their characterization. In this work, an attempt has been made to explore the various possible applications of these sensors. Metamaterial-based sensors are very popular for its diverse applications in areas such as biomedical, chemical industry, food quality testing, agriculture. Split-ring resonators with various shapes and topologies are the most frequently used structures where the sensing principle is based on electromagnetic interaction of the material under test with the resonator. Overcoming the design challenges using metamaterial sensors involving several constraints such as cost, compactness, reusability, ease in fabrication, and robustness is also addressed.

In this paper, a compact metamaterial inspired ultra-thin polarization independent quad-band microwave absorber for electromagnetic interference (EMI)/ electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) applications have been discussed. The proposed absorber structure offers four different absorption peaks having absorptivity of 97.02, 94.07, 91.72, and 98.20% at 3.40, 8.23, 9.89, and 11.80 GHz, respectively. Due to the four-fold symmetry of the designed unit cell, the proposed absorber structure shows polarization independent behavior. In addition to above, the absorption curve for the designed structure has been also analyzed under different angles of incidence for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarization states. In order to confirm the metamaterial behavior of the proposed absorber unit cell, dispersion plot has been studied. Further, input impedance plot, electric field, and surface current distribution plot have been discussed to explain the absorption mechanism of the proposed absorber structure. The designed absorber unit cell shows compactness of 0.136 λ0 × 0.136 λ0 with the ultra-thin thickness of 0.0113 λ0, where λ0 (free space wavelength) corresponds to the lowest absorption peak of 3.40 GHz. In order to calculate the measured value of absorptivity, the designed absorber structure has been fabricated. Further, it has been observed that simulated and measured results perfectly match with each other. The ultra-thin and compact nature of the proposed absorber structure suggests its potential use in the field of various EMI/EMC applications.

Metamaterial-based energy harvesting structures operating at GSM 900 and GSM 1800 frequency bands have been proposed. The basic structure is composed of four nested U-shaped elements on the front and back side of the dielectric substrate, with a 180° relationship between the front and back resonators. As energy harvesting capability is directly related to the quality of absorption, with the aim being perfect absorption, there is an air gap to allow tuning of the resonance frequency, and copper plate follows the air gap to facilitate the perfect absorption of electromagnetic waves, which is verified by means of simulation and experimental tests. A set of simulations and experimental study were further carried out to demonstrate incident and polarization angle dependency, the effects of Schottky diodes, and the optimal orientation of the U-shapes. Spectrum analysis and DC voltage measurements across the HSMS 2860 Schottky diode are also presented to test the energy harvesting capability: the spectrum analyzer shows a 40 dBm difference, while 81.7 mV maximum DC voltage is observed at 900 MHz. The simulation and experimental study results, while displaying several differences, do suggest that the proposed design can be used for running low-energy consumption devices such as sensors and switches.