Applying multiple physical fields to artificial manipulate electromagnetic waves is a highly stirring research. In this paper, we creatively combine light control with microwave scattering, realizing an optically coding metasurface for beam deflection based on anomalous reflection. A photoresistor and a voltage-driven module are connected to control each row of PIN-diode-loaded unit cells, endowing the reflection phase of the elements with a strong dependence on light. Owing to the high sensitivity of photoresistor, the digital element state “0” or “1” can be switched effectively via light variation sensed by the photoresistor. By modulating the light signal, the arrangement of digital elements can be reprogrammed, generating the specific scattering field. Therefore, the electromagnetic field can be determined by the spatial distribution of light, which induces the connect with the optical information and microwave field. The simulated and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of our design. This light-steering approach provides a dimension for electromagnetic wave modulation.
Previous programmable metasurfaces integrated with diodes or varactors require external instructions for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which usually rely on computer‐inputs or pre‐loaded algorithms. But the complicated external devices make the coding regulation process of the programmable metasurfaces cumbersome and difficult to use. To simplify the process and provide a new interaction manner, a touch‐programmable metasurface (TPM) based on touch sensing modules is proposed to realize various electromagnetic (EM) manipulations and encryptions. By simply touching the meta‐units of the TPM, the state of the diodes can be changed. Through the touch controls, the TPM can achieve independent and direct manipulations of meta‐units and efficient inputs of coding patterns without using a FPGA or other control modules. Various coding patterns are demonstrated to achieve diverse scattering‐field control and flexible near‐field EM information encryptions, which verifies the feasibility of the TPM design. The presented TPM will have wide application prospects in imaging displays, wireless communications, and EM information encryptions.
In this paper, we present a flexible, breathable and optically transparent metasurface with ultra-wideband absorption. The designed double layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) films with specific carved structure realizes absorption and electromagnetic (EM) isolation in dual-polarization, as well as good air permeability. Under the illumination of x- and y-polarization incidence, the metasurface has low reflectivity and transmission from about 2 to 18 GHz. By employing ITO film based on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the presented metasurface also processes the excellent flexibility and optically transparency, which can be utilized for wearable device application. In addition, the dual-layer design enables mechanically-reconfigurable property of the metasurface. The transmission and reflection coefficients in two polarizations show distinct difference when arranging the different relevant positions of two layers of the metasurface. A sample with 14*14 elements is designed, fabricated and measured, showing good agreement with the simulation results. We envision this work has various potentials in the wearable costume which demands both EM absorption and isolation.
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