Deformation-Induced Electromagnetic Reconfigurable Square Ring Kirigami Metasurfaces

The continuous expansion of wireless communication application scenarios demands the active tuning of electromagnetic (EM) metamaterials, which is essential for their flexible adaptation to complex EM environments. However, EM reconfigurable systems based on intricate designs and smart materials often exhibit limited flexibility and incur high manufacturing costs. Inspired by mechanical metastructures capable of switching between multistable configurations under repeated deformation, we propose a planar kirigami frequency selective surface (FSS) that enables mechanical control of its resonant frequency. This FSS is composed of periodically arranged copper square-ring resonators embedded in a kirigami-structured ecoflex substrate. Through simple tensile deformation, the shapes and positions of the square-ring resonators on the kirigami substrate are altered, resulting in changes to the coupling between capacitance and inductance, thereby achieving active tuning. Combining EM finite element simulations and transmittance measurements, we demonstrate that biaxial mechanical stretching allows for continuous adjustment of the FSS resonant frequency and -10 dB bandwidth. Additionally, the FSS exhibits excellent polarization and incident angle stability. Structural parameterization of the square-ring kirigami FSS was conducted to elucidate the deformation-electromagnetic coupling mechanism underlying the active tuning. These insights provide a foundation for guiding the application of square-ring kirigami FSS in various practical engineering domains.