Touch-Programmable Metasurface for Various Electromagnetic Manipulations and Encryptions

Previous programmable metasurfaces integrated with diodes or varactors require external instructions for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which usually rely on computer-inputs or pre-loaded algorithms. But the complicated external devices make the coding regulation process of the programmable metasurfaces cumbersome and difficult to use. To simplify the process and provide a new interaction manner, a touch-programmable metasurface (TPM) based on touch sensing modules is proposed to realize various electromagnetic (EM) manipulations and encryptions. By simply touching the meta-units of the TPM, the state of the diodes can be changed. Through the touch controls, the TPM can achieve independent and direct manipulations of meta-units and efficient inputs of coding patterns without using a FPGA or other control modules. Various coding patterns are demonstrated to achieve diverse scattering-field control and flexible near-field EM information encryptions, which verifies the feasibility of the TPM design. The presented TPM will have wide application prospects in imaging displays, wireless communications, and EM information encryptions.