Artificial Metasurface Research Articles

All-dielectric achromatic hole-array metasurfaces

Metalens, an ultra-thin optical element composed of subwavelength structure, offers a new path for the development of miniaturized device imaging. Through the design of subwavelength units, arbitrary modulation of the phase, amplitude, and polarization of electromagnetic waves can be achieved. However, current metalenses generally suffer from the disadvantages of narrowband and Ohmic losses, which limits the development of high-quality imaging. In this work, using all-dielectric hole-array structure within the framework of effective medium theory, we demonstrate the achromatic focusing effect based on the basic Huygens principle. Moreover, by changing the position of the point source, this metalens can also achieve directional refraction with flexible angles. Our results provide a new solution for the practical application of miniaturized integrated high-quality imaging, and may open up avenues for constructing efficient artificial metasurface with metamaterials for energy harvesting and other wave manipulation.

Tunable optical topological transitions of plasmon polaritons in WTe2 van der Waals films

Naturally existing in-plane hyperbolic polaritons and the associated optical topological transitions, which avoid the nano-structuring to achieve hyperbolicity, can outperform their counterparts in artificial metasurfaces. Such plasmon polaritons are rare, but experimentally revealed recently in WTe2 van der Waals thin films. Different from phonon polaritons, hyperbolic plasmon polaritons originate from the interplay of free carrier Drude response and interband transitions, which promise good intrinsic tunability. However, tunable in-plane hyperbolic plasmon polariton and its optical topological transition of the isofrequency contours to the elliptic topology in a natural material have not been realized. Here we demonstrate the tuning of the optical topological transition through Mo doping and temperature. The optical topological transition energy is tuned over a wide range, with frequencies ranging from 429 cm−1 (23.3 microns) for pure WTe2 to 270 cm−1 (37.0 microns) at the 50% Mo-doping level at 10 K. Moreover, the temperature-induced blueshift of the optical topological transition energy is also revealed, enabling active and reversible tuning. Surprisingly, the localized surface plasmon resonance in skew ribbons shows unusual polarization dependence, accurately manifesting its topology, which renders a reliable means to track the topology with far-field techniques. Our results open an avenue for reconfigurable photonic devices capable of plasmon polariton steering, such as canaling, focusing, and routing, and pave the way for low-symmetry plasmonic nanophotonics based on anisotropic natural materials.

On the Design of Modular Reflecting EM Skins for Enhanced Urban Wireless Coverage

The design of modular, passive, and static artificial metasurfaces to be used as electromagnetic skins (EMSs) of buildings for improving the coverage in urban millimeter-wave communication scenarios is addressed. Towards this end, an ad-hoc design strategy is presented to determine optimal trade-off implementative solutions that assure a suitable coverage of the areas of interest, where the signal from the base station is too weak, with the minimum complexity. More specifically, the admissible surface in the building facade is first partitioned into tiles, which are the minimum-size elements of the artificial coating (i.e., the building block of an EMS). Then, the search for the optimal EMS layout (i.e., the minimum number and the positions of the tiles to be installed) is carried out with a binary multi-objective optimization method. Representative numerical results are reported and discussed to point out the features and the potentialities of the EMS solution in the smart electromagnetic environment (SEME) as well as the effectiveness of the proposed design method.

Ultrafast modulation of a THz metamaterial/graphene array integrated device

We report on the ultrafast modulation of a graphene loaded artificial metasurface realized on a SiO2/Si substrate by near-IR laser pump, detected via terahertz probe at the resonant frequency of ∼0.8 THz. The results have been acquired by setting the Fermi energy of graphene at the Dirac point via electrostatic gating and illuminating the sample with 40 fs pump pulses at different fluences, ranging from 0.9 to 0.018 mJ/cm2. The sub-ps conductivity rising time was attributed to the combined effect of the ultrafast generation of hot carriers in graphene and electron–hole generation in silicon. In correspondence of the resonance, it was possible to clearly distinguish a partial recovery time of ∼2 ps mainly due to carrier-phonon relaxation in graphene, superimposed to the > 1 ns recovery time of silicon. The resonant metasurface yielded ∼6 dB modulation depth in E-field amplitude at 0.8 THz for the range of fluences considered. These measurements set an upper limit for the reconfiguration speed achievable by graphene-based terahertz devices. At the same time, this work represents a great progress toward the realization of an ultrafast THz optoelectronic platform for a plethora of applications, ranging from the investigation of the ultrastrong light-matter regime to the next generation wireless communications.

Independently tunable bifunctional terahertz metasurface based on double-layer graphene

Artificial metasurfaces are one of the most promising candidates for realizing flexibly tunable devices. Here we propose a tunable bifunctional metasurface (TBM), which incorporates two layers of independently controllable hollow-patterned graphene that contribute to wideband linear polarization conversion mode and dual-band absorption mode, respectively. When working in linear polarization conversion mode, it can achieve the polarization conversion ratio (PCR) of over 96.1% and the relative bandwidth of about 42.2% in 3.98–6.11 THz; when operating in dual-band absorption mode, the absorptivity can reach 97.1% and 99.9% at 3.55 THz and 4.98 THz, respectively. The working mechanisms are elucidated through the eigenmode decomposition, transmission line model, surface current and field distributions. In addition, the influences of the chemical potential and relaxation time of graphene, main geometric parameters of the TBM, and incident angle of terahertz waves are discussed, implying that the TBM has excellent tunability and tolerance, and may provide a scheme for designing terahertz devices such as isolators, modulators and rotators.

A Novel Circular Reconfigurable Metasurface-Based Compact UWB Hybrid Coupler for Ku-Band Applications

A novel circular reconfigurable metasurface (MS) based compact ultra-wideband (UWB) hybrid coupler is developed for Ku-band applications. The coupler is developed using the substrate-integrated gap waveguide (SIGW) technology. The coupler structure consists of two layers, the bottom layer represents the artificial magnetic surface of the periodic structures and the ridges in between that guide the wave in the required direction with minimum dispersion. It involves the coupling section with a centered etched slot and two additional vias to achieve the basic hybrid coupler properties. This layer is nominated as the ridge layer. The second layer is a circular shape of a dielectric gap loaded with the top ground. The top ground is left solid for a non-reconfigurable coupler. Concerning the reconfigurable coupler, this layer contains an artificial metasurface of Jerusalem cross elements where the copper is etched around. This layer is nominated as the gap layer. This MS surface is mechanically rotated to offset the magnitude and phase of the signal going to the through and coupled ports. The findings obtained from the simulations show that the reconfiguration can be accomplished by rotating the MS around the source coupler’s central axis. The rotation is tested between 0° to 180° in the counter-clockwise direction. The operating frequency range of the coupler is between 11.94 to 16.91 GHz, which covers approximately the whole Ku-band. The coupler delivers continuously adjustable amplitude between 2.6 and 4.8 dB while the phase differences within 77° to 105° over a fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 34.45%. It is manufactured using PCB technology and measured using network analyzer. A strong agreement is achieved between simulations and measurements. The proposed coupler can be used in traditional beam-forming and beam-steering networks by changing the rotation angle or the operating frequency. The developed coupler can replace the Butler and Bless matrices with their complication, heavy number of phase shifters, and crossover problems. The current work can be extended to operate in the mm-Wave band by changing the dimension and the material of the unit cell of the ridge layer of the coupler.

A review of terahertz phase modulation from free space to guided wave integrated devices

Abstract In the past ten years, terahertz technology has developed rapidly in wireless communications, spectroscopy, and imaging. Various functional devices have been developed, such as filters, absorbers, polarizers, mixers, and modulators. Among these, the terahertz phase modulation is a current research hotspot. It is the core technology to realize flexible control of the terahertz wavefront, beam scanning, focusing deflection. It is indispensable in terahertz wireless communication, high-resolution imaging, and radar systems. This review summarizes the research progress of terahertz phase modulators from the two major types: free space and guided wave integration. Among these, the free space terahertz phase modulator is realized by combining the tunable materials and artificial metasurfaces. Based on different types of tunable materials, the terahertz free space phase modulator combining the semiconductor, liquid crystal, phase change materials, graphene, and other two-dimensional materials are introduced, and the influence of different materials on the phase modulation performance is discussed and analyzed. The monolithic integration and waveguide embedding methods are introduced separately, and the characteristics of different forms of terahertz-guided wave phase modulation are also discussed. Finally, the development trends of terahertz phase modulators, possible new methods, and future application requirements are discussed.

Neural network enabled metasurface design for phase manipulation.

The phase of electromagnetic waves can be manipulated and tailored by artificial metasurfaces, which can lead to ultra-compact, high-performance metalens, holographic and imaging devices etc. Usually, nanostructured metasurfaces are associated with a large number of geometric parameters, and the multi-parameter optimization for phase design cannot be possibly achieved by conventional time-consuming simulations. Deep learning tools capable of acquiring the relationship between complex nanostructure geometry and electromagnetic responses are best suited for such challenging task. In this work, by innovations in the training methods, we demonstrate that deep neural network can handle six geometric parameters for accurately predicting the phase value, and for the first time, perform direct inverse design of metasurfaces for on-demand phase requirement. In order to satisfy the achromatic metalens design requirements, we also demonstrate simultaneous phase and group delay prediction for near-zero group delay dispersion. Our results suggest significantly improved design capability of complex metasurfaces with the aid of deep learning tools.

A broadband polarized artificial magnetic conductor metasurface

We present an artificial metasurface comprised of a metallic monolayer having a designed functionality of an Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC). The metasurface is designed to operate as a broadband AMC for incident electromagnetic waves polarized in a specific direction, while it works as a pass-band filter for waves orthogonally polarized to the previous direction. Hence the design presents a dual polarization-specific functionality, that of a broadband AMC, or that of a transparent dielectric. In this paper we have selected design parameters scaling the AMC behavior at mm-wave frequencies, but the design can be scaled in other frequency bands of choice. A metasurface sample has been fabricated and characterized via Ka-band waveguide measurements which have validated the approach. Applications on antenna substrates have also been demonstrated through full-wave electromagnetic simulations.

Polarization-independent and high-efficiency dielectric metasurfaces for visible light.

Dielectric metasurfaces are capable of completely manipulating the phase, amplitude, and polarization of light with high spatial resolutions. The emerging design based on high-index and low-loss dielectrics has led to the realization of novel metasurfaces with high transmissions, but these devices usually operate at the limited bandwidth, and are sensitive to the incident polarization. Here, we report the realization of the polarization-independent and high-efficiency silicon metasurfaces spanning the visible wavelengths about 200 nm. The fabricated computer-generated meta-holograms exhibit a 90% diffraction efficiency, which are verified by gradient metasurfaces with measured efficiencies up to 93% at 670 nm, and exceeding 75% at the wavelengths from 600 to 800 nm for the two orthogonally polarized incidences. These dielectric metasurfaces effectively decouple the phase modulation from the polarization states and frequencies for visible light, which hold great potential for novel flat optical devices operating over a broad spectrum.

Diffraction-free surface waves by metasurfaces

We propose a method to design and realize planar Bessel lens using artificial metasurfaces to produce diffraction-free surface waves. The planar Bessel lens is composed of two sublenses: a half Maxwell fisheye lens which can shape the surface cylindrical waves to surface plane waves, and an inhomogeneous flat lens which can convert the surface plane waves into approximate diffraction-free surface waves in a diamond-shaped focusing area. Through the planar Bessel lens, a point source on the metasurface directly radiates the diffraction-free surface waves. In realization, we construct the inhomogeneous metasurfaces by subwavelength metallic patches printed on a grounded dielectric substrate. Simulation and experimental results have good agreements, which jointly show the formation of the diffraction-free surface waves in the microwave band.

Compact Circularly Polarized Antennas Combining Meta-Surfaces and Strong Space-Filling Meta-Resonators

Reduced-size single-feed circularly-polarized (CP) patch antennas are proposed and investigated based on the strategy of combining meta-surfaces and meta-resonators owning strong space-filling capability. They all comprise a slot-loaded square patch printed over a well designed reactive impedance surface (artificial meta-surface with magnetic response at the resonant frequency) for improved antenna performances and size reduction. The complementary crossbar fractal tree (CCFT) slot and three-turn complementary spiral resonators (TCSRs) with asymmetric gap orientation are employed as meta-resonators to render the antennas to radiate CP waves in single-band or dual-band operation and to facilitate further miniaturization. Numerical and experimental results indicate that these antennas owning a maximum size of 0.262λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</sub> × 0.262λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</sub> around 3 GHz exhibit a comparable impedance and axial ratio (AR) bandwidth over 1.05% and high gain of more than 4.15 dBic, predicting promising applications in portable and handheld communication systems.

Babinet Principle Applied to the Design of Metasurfaces and Metamaterials

The electromagnetic theory of diffraction and the Babinet principle are applied to the design of artificial metasurfaces and metamaterials. A new particle, the complementary split rings resonator, is proposed for the design of metasurfaces with high frequency selectivity and planar metamaterials with a negative dielectric permittivity. Applications in the fields of frequency selective surfaces and polarizers, as well as in microwave antennas and filter design, can be envisaged. The tunability of all these devices by an applied dc voltage is also achievable if these particles are etched on the appropriate substrate.