BT: Tutorial B: Controlling Waves on Metasurfaces

Monday, August 18  13:40-14:40,  Room #19

Session Chairs: Giuliano Manara, Ari Sihvola

Metasurfaces constitute a class of thin metamaterials, which can be used from microwave to optical frequencies to create new electromagnetic engineering devices. They are obtained by a dense periodic texture of small elements printed on a grounded slab without or with shorting vias. These have been used in the past for realizing electromagnetic bandgaps (EBG) or equivalent magnetic-walls. Changing the dimension of the elements, being the sub-wavelength 2D-periodicity equal, gives the visual effect of a pixelated image and the electromagnetic effect of a modulation of the equivalent local reactance. The modulated metasurface reactance (MMR) so obtained is able to transform surface or guided waves into different wavefield configurations with required properties. The MMR allows in fact a local modification of the dispersion equation and, at constant operating frequency, of the local wavevector. Therefore, the general effects of metasurface modulation are similar to those obtained in solid (volumetric) inhomogeneous metamaterial as predicted by the Transformation Optics; namely, re-addressing the propagation path of an incident wave. However, significant technological simplicity is gained. In this lecture, after illustration of the design method of metasurfing-wave antennas, various examples are presented and discussed, including Luneburg lenses, Maxwell’s Fish-eyes, isoflux antennas, Doppler-guide antennas and new types of transmission lines.

13:40  BT.1   CONTROLLING WAVES WITH METASURFACES

S. Maci

Dept. of Information Engineering, University of Siena, Siena, Italy