Chirality‐Switching and Reconfigurable Spin‐Selective Wavefront by Origami Deformation Metasurface

Abstract

Origami metasurfaces have emerged as a versatile platform for dynamically manipulating electromagnetic waves due to their numerous advantages, including cost‐effectiveness, lightweight nature, and diverse structural transformations. They are particularly well‐suited for reconfigurable chiroptical responses that can find utility in various applications. However, current research has primarily focused on modulating spectral properties like optical chirality and resonant frequencies, which may limit their practical applications. Herein, an origami metasurface enabled by a simple yet highly effective deformation method is proposed to achieve simultaneous tunable chirality and wavefront manipulation, which expands the modulation freedom of mechanical deformation in chiral metasurfaces. The planar metasurface with spin‐insensitive transmittance is bulked into 3D metasurfaces to break the mirror symmetry, thereby triggering pronounced chiral responses. Additionally, through the implementation of propagation phase design, two types of meta‐atoms with distinct phase responses are interleaved to create a chiral anomalous reflector that spin‐selectively modulates the reflection beam. The experimental results agree well with the simulation results and theoretical predictions, verifying the high quality of the proposed design that may offer untapped potential for applications such as reconfigurable photonics devices.

Synergy between AI and Optical Metasurfaces: A Critical Overview of Recent Advances

“…Actually, these are flat metastructures organized to form a hollow and layer-built 3D, like a house of cards. One of the methods to obtain them is origami deformation or "bulking" [139].…”

“…Advantage: Sophisticated functionalities are obtainable like symmetry breaking to achieve chirality switching [139] or for fabrication of metasurface-based cloaking devices [140]. Disadvantage: Not actually 2D metasurfaces but only containing them as their main building blocks.…”