Multifunctional Metasurface: Simultaneous Beam Steering, Polarization Conversion, and Phase Offset

A varactor-based reconfigurable multifunctional metasurface capable of simultaneous beam steering, polarization conversion and phase offset is proposed in this communication. The unit cell is designed to naturally decompose the incident waves into two equal-amplitude orthogonal linear components, and by integrating varactors, the reflection phase of the field components can be engineered from −180° to 180°. Taking advantage of the infinite states of the varactors, this design integrates a new function, the phase offset. After simulation validation of its capability, a four-layer 7 by 6 unit 1-D prototype is fabricated as a printed circuit board. It is experimentally demonstrated that it switches between X/Y and circular polarization with more than 0.9 polarization conversion rate (PCR), while reaching ±45° steering and ±180° phase offset.