Inverse design of perimeter-controlled InAs-assisted metasurface for two-dimensional dynamic beam steering

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Metamaterials
• Infrared Technology

Background:

• Current light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems require complex, large-aperture arrays for dynamic 2D scanning.
• Biasing architectures for large-area tunable element arrays are a significant engineering challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To theoretically present an inverse-designed, perimeter-controlled active metasurface for 2D dynamic beam steering.
• To simplify the biasing architecture for large-area active metasurfaces.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a metal-insulator-metal configuration with plasmonic patch nanoantennas and indium arsenide active layers.
• Implementing a perimeter-control approach for column-row addressing of metasurface elements.
• Employing a multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) for optimizing radiation pattern metrics.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated wide phase modulation ($$) on reflected light via independent column-row voltage control.
• Showcased that multi-objective GA optimizes directivity and spatial resolution by identifying design tradeoffs.
• Achieved high directivity and continuous 2D beam scanning with a wide field-of-view.

Conclusions:

• The perimeter-controlled active metasurface offers a simplified biasing architecture for 2D dynamic beam steering.
• Multi-objective optimization is superior for designing complex metasurfaces with competing performance metrics.
• This approach advances mid-infrared LiDAR and optical system capabilities.