Metasurfing: Addressing Waves on Impenetrable Metasurfaces

Metasurfaces constitute a class of thin metamaterials, which are used from microwave to optical frequencies to create new antennas and microwave devices. Here, we propose the use of variable-impedance metasurfaces for transforming surface or guided waves into different wavefield configurations with desirable properties. We will shortly refer to this metasurface-driven wavefield transformation as “metasurfing.” Metasurfing can be obtained by an appropriate synthesis of inhomogeneous metasurface reactance that allows a local modification of the dispersion equation and, at constant operating frequency, of the local wave vector. The general effects of metasurface modulation are similar to those obtained in solid (volumetric) inhomogeneous metamaterial as predicted by the transformation optics-namely, readdressing the propagation path of an incident wave. However, significant technological simplicity is gained. Several examples are shown as a proof of concept.