Theoretical proposal of a novel multitasking metasurface switched by solid-state plasma and gravity field

Abstract

In this paper, by encapsulating the liquid metal alloy eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) in a tailored microfluidic container, a reconfigurablemultitasking metasurface (RMM) integrating two functions of band reconfigurable absorption and linear-to-circular polarization conversion isproposed and theoretically investigated. When the RMM is positioned upward, it acts as a band reconfigurable solid-state plasma (SSP) absorber,and two working states are produced by selective electrical excitation. When only the peripheral SSP resonators are excited (State I), the absorptionband which is larger than 0.9 is 9.11–13.01 GHz with a relative bandwidth of 35.26%. Further, if the internal SSP resonators are also excitedsimultaneously (State II), such an absorption band can be enhanced to 8.21–16.62 GHz and the relative bandwidth is nearly doubled to reach67.74%. By rotating the backside of the RMM upward, the position and shape of the EGaIn will be reconstituted, and the function of the proposedRMM is switched to realize linear-to-circular polarization conversion with the corresponding operating band in 8.31–12.7 GHz (the relativebandwidth is 41.9%). The theoretical and simulated results adequately elaborate the generation mechanisms of wave absorption and polarizationconversion and establish the reliability of this design idea.