Wideband RCS reduction due to plasma generated by radioactive nuclei for cylindrical object

Abstract

Radar cross section reduction has been one of the most important research topics in recent years. Plasma-based stealth is a method of reducing the radar cross section, which dampens the electromagnetic waves and reduces the amount of return waves. In this paper, a coating of the radioactive nucleus $$^{241}{\mathrm{Am}}$$ 241 Am on the surface of the cylinder with a radius of 10 cm is considered and the range of the emitted alpha particles and the electron density generated in the air are obtained using the Geant4 code under standard temperature and pressure conditions. By finite element method solution, the radar cross section of the conductive cylindrical object has been simulated and extracted in the presence and absence of plasma created by alpha-particles. The obtained results show a reduction of 5–8 dB $$\mathrm{m}^2$$ m 2 in the radar cross section in the frequency range of 2–12 GHz for specific activity source of 1 Ci/$$\mathrm{cm}^2$$ cm 2 .