Infrared-controlled programmable metasurface

Programmable metasurface enables controlling electromagnetic (EM) waves in real time. By programming the states of active device embedded in metasurface element, the EM properties of the digital metasurface can be changed quickly without redesigning their structures. However, large numbers of long-distance wires are required to connect the programmable metasurface to provide the coded signals from field programmable gate array (FPGA) when controlling the metasurface at a long distance, which is complicated and inconvenient. Here, we propose an infrared-controlled programmable metasurface that can be programmed remotely. The infrared transceiver is able to switch the coding sequences stored in the FPGA controller, thus controlling the voltage on the varactors integrated in the metasurface. Experiment is performed at microwave frequencies, and the measured results verify that the scattering beams of the metasurface sample can be changed remotely by using infrared ray. The proposed infrared-controlled programmable metasurface opens up avenues for constructing a new class of remotely-tuning dynamic metasurfaces.