Low-Scattering Sensor with Strong Absorption Properties

Suppressing the unwanted scattering from an antenna while maintaining its optimal absorption capabilities is desirable in many practical applications. However, traditional techniques to suppress the scattering of a receiving antenna typically come at the price of significantly lowering the absorbed power, and are thus unfavorable for realistic applications. On the contrary, we prove that the proper interference of multiple scattering modes can decouple the constraints on scattering and absorption of a system, opening a new venue to implement an efficient sensor with minimized scattering signature. Here, we theoretically and experimentally present the design of microwave antennas based on overlapped electric and magnetic dipolar modes, observing over 6-dB scattering suppression without sacrificing absorption. The presented technique is of special interest for non-invasive sensing and radar technology.