Engineered metamaterials offer unique functionalities for manipulating the spectral and spatial properties of electromagnetic waves in unconventional ways. Here, we report a novel approach for making reconfigurable metasurfaces capable of deflecting electromagnetic waves in an electronically controllable fashion. This is accomplished by tilting the phase front of waves through a two-dimensional array of resonant metasurface unit-cells with electronically-controlled phase-change materials embedded inside. Such metasurfaces can be placed at the output facet of any electromagnetic radiation source to deflect electromagnetic waves at a desired frequency, ranging from millimeter-wave to far-infrared frequencies. Our design does not use any mechanical elements, external light sources, or reflectarrays, creating, for the first time, a highly robust and fully-integrated beam-steering device solution. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept beam-steering metasurface optimized for operation at 100 GHz, offering up to 44° beam deflection in both horizontal and vertical directions. Dynamic control of electromagnetic wave propagation direction through this unique platform could be transformative for various imaging, sensing, and communication applications, among others.

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In this paper, a heterogeneous communication system capable of delivering 5G/sub-terahertz signal carriers over an arbitrary long fiber and separated transmission links is presented by employing direct detection, multiplexing techniques, and advanced digital signal processing. In this experiment, the 3.5 GHz and 28.5 GHz carrier frequencies, representing 5G links, deliver 4 Gb/s 16-QAM OFDM signals to separate user ends over a 1-meter wireless link distance. Later, the sub-terahertz wireless communications of 4 to 10 Gb/s QPSK and 8-QAM signals with varying carrier frequencies of 125-,175-and 225 GHz, over wireless distances (< 80 cm) are presented and evaluated. The results indicate that by increasing optical power from 12dBm to 13dBm the bit error rate decreases 2 order of magnitudes. Eventually, with the assistance of artificial intelligence, a nonlinear equalizer (AI-NLE) prototype is introduced. The results indicate that the AI-NLE successfully decreases the number of errors in received data by one order of magnitude. The proposed heterogeneous system is compatible with radio-over-fiber technology, cost-effective, and easy to deploy, making it a promising candidate for indoor terahertz communication.