Fast beam steering based on reconfigurable metasurface and its applications

The unique properties of beam steering render them a great many promising applications. However, the dominant paradigm of current beam steering technologies relies on complex control systems with degrees of freedom much larger than output wavefronts, e.g., spatial light modulator or phased array antennas. Here, a new paradigm for beam steering of arbitrary output wavefronts using control systems with the same degrees of freedom is proposed. We combine the MEMS technology with the design of geometry tunable meta-atoms, making a reconfigurable metasurface. The output wavefronts can be reconfigured via mechanical actuation using a MEMS system, ultimately enabling fast beam steering.