Two-dimensional beam steering with tunable metasurface in infrared regime

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Metamaterials
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Tunable metasurfaces offer dynamic control over light's optical properties (amplitude, phase, polarization).
• Applications in light detection and ranging, sensing, and optical communications are hindered by challenges in creating individually addressed 2D metasurface arrays.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate a two-dimensional (2D) metasurface array for beam steering in the infrared (IR) spectrum.
• To address the challenge of individually addressing pixels in a 2D metasurface array for optical frequency applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a metal-dielectric-oxide metasurface unit cell with indium tin oxide as the active, tunable layer.
• Employed top fan-out electrodes for modulating the metasurface.
• Implemented a binary phase grating approach for beam steering.

Main Results:

• Achieved experimental demonstration of two-dimensional beam steering using the fabricated metasurface array.
• The pixelated metasurface array exhibited a phase change exceeding 137° in the infrared regime.
• Successfully modulated the metasurface using top fan-out electrodes.

Conclusions:

• The study presents a viable experimental demonstration of a 2D tunable metasurface array for IR beam steering.
• The developed metasurface design, with individually addressable pixels and significant phase modulation, overcomes previous implementation challenges.
• This work paves the way for advanced optical systems utilizing dynamic wavefront control.