A review of metasurfaces: physics and applications
Top Cited Papers
- 16 June 2016
- journal article
- review article
- Published by IOP Publishing in Reports on Progress in Physics
- Vol. 79 (7), 076401
- https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/79/7/076401
Abstract
Metamaterials are composed of periodic subwavelength metal/dielectric structures that resonantly couple to the electric and/or magnetic components of the incident electromagnetic fields, exhibiting properties that are not found in nature. This class of micro- and nano-structured artificial media have attracted great interest during the past 15 years and yielded ground-breaking electromagnetic and photonic phenomena. However, the high losses and strong dispersion associated with the resonant responses and the use of metallic structures, as well as the difficulty in fabricating the micro- and nanoscale 3D structures, have hindered practical applications of metamaterials. Planar metamaterials with subwavelength thickness, or metasurfaces, consisting of single-layer or few-layer stacks of planar structures, can be readily fabricated using lithography and nanoprinting methods, and the ultrathin thickness in the wave propagation direction can greatly suppress the undesirable losses. Metasurfaces enable a spatially varying optical response (e.g. scattering amplitude, phase, and polarization), mold optical wavefronts into shapes that can be designed at will, and facilitate the integration of functional materials to accomplish active control and greatly enhanced nonlinear response. This paper reviews recent progress in the physics of metasurfaces operating at wavelengths ranging from microwave to visible. We provide an overview of key metasurface concepts such as anomalous reflection and refraction, and introduce metasurfaces based on the Pancharatnam-Berry phase and Huygens' metasurfaces, as well as their use in wavefront shaping and beam forming applications, followed by a discussion of polarization conversion in few-layer metasurfaces and their related properties. An overview of dielectric metasurfaces reveals their ability to realize unique functionalities coupled with Mie resonances and their low ohmic losses. We also describe metasurfaces for wave guidance and radiation control, as well as active and nonlinear metasurfaces. Finally, we conclude by providing our opinions of opportunities and challenges in this rapidly developing research field.Keywords
Funding Information
- Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies
- Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (1307948)
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (D15AP00111)
- Laboratory Directed Research and Development (20150109DR)
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-14-1-0389)
This publication has 100 references indexed in Scilit:
- Active impedance metasurface with full 360° reflection phase tuningScientific Reports, 2013
- Spin-Enabled Plasmonic Metasurfaces for Manipulating Orbital Angular Momentum of LightNano Letters, 2013
- Broadband Terahertz Wave Deflection Based on C‐shape Complex Metamaterials with Phase DiscontinuitiesAdvanced Materials, 2013
- Spatial and Spectral Light Shaping with MetamaterialsAdvanced Materials, 2012
- Magnetic lightScientific Reports, 2012
- Metamaterial Electromagnetic Wave AbsorbersAdvanced Materials, 2012
- Gradient-index meta-surfaces as a bridge linking propagating waves and surface wavesNature Materials, 2012
- Dual-polarity plasmonic metalens for visible lightNature Communications, 2012
- Broadband graphene terahertz modulators enabled by intraband transitionsNature Communications, 2012
- Electrically tunable negative permeability metamaterials based on nematic liquid crystalsApplied Physics Letters, 2007