FDTD simulation of radar cross section reduction by a collisional inhomogeneous magnetized plasma

The recursive convolution finite difference time domain method is addressed in the scattered field formulation and employed to investigate the bistatic radar cross-section (RCS) of a square conductive plate covered by a collisional inhomogeneous magnetized plasma. The RCS is calculated for two different configurations of the magnetic field, i.e., parallel and perpendicular to the plate. The results of numerical simulations show that, for a perpendicularly applied magnetic field, the backscattered RCS is significantly reduced when the magnetic field intensity coincides with the value corresponding to the electron cyclotron resonance. By increasing the collision frequency, the resonant absorption is suppressed, but due to enhanced wave penetration and bending, the reduction in the bistatic RCS is improved. At very high collision frequencies, the external magnetic field has no significant impact on the bistatic RCS reduction. Application of a parallel magnetic field has an adverse effect near the electron cyclotron resonance and results in a large and asymmetric RCS profile. But, the problem is resolved by increasing the magnetic field and/or the collision frequency. By choosing proper values of the collision frequency and the magnetic field intensity, a perpendicular magnetic field can be effectively used to reduce the bistatic RCS of a conductive plate.