Knitted, textile, high impedance surface with integrated conducting vias

An experimental, microwave high impedance surface (HIS) manufactured from a combination of both conducting and insulating yarns using commercial, computerised flat-bed knitting machines is presented. The HIS consists of a knitted, conducting ground plane, a polyester spacer layer and a knitted, conducting patterned top surface. The structure also contains vias that link the conducting elements of the top layer to the ground plane. The entire structure (including the vias) is knitted in one continuous process that is both low cost and highly efficient in terms of manufacturing time. Measurements of the surface wave transmission properties of the knitted, textile HIS are made and data are presented that show that the HIS prevents surface wave transmission over a band of frequencies between 4 and 5GHz.