Measured backscatter from conductive thin films deposited on fibrous substrates

The functional dependence of the electromagnetic backscatter by thin, strai ght, dielectric fibers with metallic coatings was measured as a function of coating thickness and conductivity at a wavelength of 0.86 cm (35 GHz), Cu and Ni coatings were applied to fibrous glass substrates (having a nominal diameter of 5.50 mu m) using an evaporative process. Thicknesses of the th in films were directly measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and r anged from 0.02 to 0.70 mu m Measurements were conducted using single fiber s. Measured quantities agreed well with calculations based on recently deve loped theory.