Channel power control performance based on a focusing metasurface with MIM structure at 220-320 GHz

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics
• Materials Science
• Wireless Communications

Background:

• Terahertz (THz) waves exhibit high directivity, causing significant signal attenuation and scattering, especially for users at the cell edge.
• Metasurfaces provide a promising solution for manipulating electromagnetic wave propagation and overcoming signal degradation challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and experimentally validate a reflective metasurface for enhancing THz wireless communication performance.
• To investigate the anomalous reflection and beam-focusing capabilities of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) metasurface at 240 GHz.
• To evaluate the system-level performance, including focusing effects and path loss, of a metasurface-assisted wireless link.

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of a reflective metasurface with a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) configuration.
• Experimental characterization of the metasurface's anomalous reflection (30°) and beam focusing at 0.5 m.
• System-level testing of a metasurface-assisted wireless link across frequencies (220-320 GHz), incidence angles (0°-15°), and reception distances (0.3-2 m).
• Evaluation of a dual-metasurface configuration to assess collaborative deployment benefits.

Main Results:

• The proposed reflective metasurface demonstrated pronounced focusing effects and low insertion loss.
• Experimental results confirmed effective beam focusing at a distance of 0.5 m with a 60 GHz bandwidth.
• The metasurface significantly alleviated weak signal reception issues for simulated cell-edge scenarios.
• A dual-metasurface setup reduced path loss below line-of-sight levels, indicating enhanced channel power control.

Conclusions:

• Metasurfaces are effective in reshaping electromagnetic propagation to mitigate signal attenuation and scattering in THz wireless systems.
• The developed MIM reflective metasurface shows significant potential for improving signal reception and link reliability, particularly for cell-edge users.
• Collaborative deployment of metasurfaces offers advanced channel power control and performance enhancement for future wireless networks.