Rigid-flexible interlocked metastructures enable conformal stealth.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41337599.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aeb7870 and PMC identifier 13142774.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Inspired by ancient chain mail, we introduce a stealth skin constructed from topologically interlocking units that synergizes mechanical robustness with electromagnetic functionality. This architecture is lightweight, highly conformable to complex surfaces, and load-bearing without sacrificing strength. We demonstrate its application by fabricating an electromagnetic skin with an areal density of only 1.67 kg/m<sup>2</sup>. It achieves over 90% absorption across an ultrabroadband frequency range of 2 to 40 GHz (covering 96.3% of the band) and is insensitive to polarization and incident angle. The skin shows exceptional resilience, maintaining full functionality after 25% unit damage or 10,000 high-curvature bending cycles. When applied to a drone's wings, this design reduces the radar cross section by over 98%. This work establishes a design strategy for a class of adaptable, multifunctional surfaces for advanced aerospace and wearable technology applications.