Electromagnetic Metasurfaces: Insight into Evolution, Design and Applications

Abstract

Metasurfaces have emerged as game-changing technology ranging from microwaves to optics. This article provides a roadmap to the evolution of electromagnetic metasurfaces with a focus on their synthesis techniques, materials used for their design and their recent and futuristic applications. A broad classification is provided, and the design principle is elaborated. The efficient and economical use of available computational resources is imperative to work with state-of-the-art metasurface systems. Hence, optimization becomes an integral part of metasurface design. Several optimization methodologies reported to date have been discussed. An extensive study on the current research database gathered a comprehensive understanding of meta-atom topologies and the preferred fabrication technologies. The study concludes with a critical analysis and highlights existing and future research challenges to be addressed.

Multi-Functional Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for Enhanced Sensing and Communication

“…where λ is the wavelength at the central frequency, n is the number of units in each period, and P is the periodic size of each unit. The deflection of the beam after splitting can be calculated by using Equation (1). We used the proposed RIS to achieve specular transmission, specular reflection, and beam splitting (for both transmission and reflection modes).…”

“…Metamaterials (MMs) and their two-dimensional (2D) counterpart, Metasurfaces (MSs), have gathered an enormous impetus for research and commercialization in the past decade [1]. Several industries have adopted this technology; for instance, Greenerwave launched reconfigurable metasurface-enabled RFID technology in vehicles in 2023 in partnership with an automotive company.…”

Extreme Nonreciprocity in Metasurfaces Based on Bound States in the Continuum

“…Optical metasurfaces are 2D arrays of nano-inclusions with a sub-wavelength thickness that are engineered to manipulate light at will. [1][2][3][4] Theoretically, if the inclusions, known as meta-atoms, are properly DOI: 10.1002/adom.202301455 designed, almost any response that does not violate fundamental laws of physics could be achieved for these structures. One of the important industrial applications of metasurfaces is the design of nonreciprocal optical components such as isolators.…”