Hybridized resonances to design tunable binary phase metasurface unit cells

Abstract

The recent concept of metasurfaces is a powerful tool to shape waves by governing precisely the phase response of each constituting element through its resonance properties. While most efforts are devoted to realize reconfigurable metasurfaces that allow such complete phase control, for many applications a binary one is sufficient. Here, we propose and demonstrate through experiments and simulations a binary state tunable phase reflector based on the concept of hybridized resonators as unit cell for a possible metasurface. The concept presents the great advantages to be very general, scalable to all frequency domains and above all very robust to fluctuations induced by the tunable mechanism, as we prove it at microwave frequencies using electronically tunable patch reflectors.