Morphogenetic metasurfaces: unlocking the potential of turing patterns

Area of Science:

• Metasurfaces
• Computational Electromagnetics
• Generative Design

Background:

• Alan Turing's reaction-diffusion theory explains biological morphogenesis.
• Metasurfaces offer control over electromagnetic wave properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize radiating metasurfaces using reaction-diffusion principles.
• To enable procedural generation of self-organizing meta-atoms for electromagnetic applications.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation of Turing's morphogenesis for procedural synthesis.
• Designing anisotropic cellular patterns based on local electromagnetic constraints.
• Simulating chemical reactant interactions to guide meta-atom self-organization.

Main Results:

• Successfully synthesized morphogenetic metasurfaces.
• Achieved controlled radiation of waves in frequency, space, and polarization.
• Demonstrated generation of circularly polarized beams and polarization-multiplexed holograms.

Conclusions:

• Morphogenesis-inspired models are effective for generative design of metasurfaces.
• Local interactions can lead to emergent self-organizing meta-atoms satisfying global constraints.
• This approach facilitates the design of advanced radiating structures.