Patent attributes
A tunable high impedance surface device (100) includes a conductive ground plane (105) and a plurality of conductive elements (110-114) electrically connected to the conductive ground plane (105). The device (100) also includes a plurality of capacitive elements (120-124) operable to vary a predetermined electromagnetic characteristic of the apparatus and standoffs (130, 132) between the plurality of capacitive elements (120-124) and the plurality of conductive elements (110-114). In one form, laser-drilled and electrically conductive micro-vias (136, 138) extend through the standoffs (130, 132) thereby electrically connecting the plurality of capacitive elements (120-124) to a data bus (140). The capacitive elements (120-124) may be integral with a circuit board (144) that supports the plurality conductive elements (110-114). Either the capacitive elements (120-124) or the conductive elements (110-114) are mechanically flexible and selectively movable to controllably adjust the distance (142) between the capacitive and conductive elements.
