Next-Generation Programmable Holographic Metasurface Antenna

Dynamic metasurface antennas and holographic surfaces have opened new frontiers in fields of next generation reconfigurable wireless communications, meta-sensing, computational imaging, and computational optics. A critical component of these advanced systems lies in the engineering of meta-elements that efficiently manipulate electromagnetic waves. This paper presents the design of a complementary electric inductive-capacitive (CELC) meta-element based aperture to address limitations in traditional metasurfaces and phased array antennas, which often suffer from restricted phase modulation, significant power consumption, and limited control over beam steering and beam synthesis. Our design leverages an innovative integration of CELC meta-elements, optimizing the tunability and dynamic response of the metasurface antenna. The CELC meta-element can be readily integrated with either a PIN diode (for digital beamforming) or a varactor diode (for continuous beam tuning). Consequently, we demonstrate a metasurface capable of dynamic wavefront control, with both spatially and temporally tunable capabilities. This architecture outperforms traditional setups in terms of power consumption and response time, enabling agile beam steering, beam synthesis, and adaptive holography with minimal power requirements. Furthermore, we validated the CELC meta-element through both full-wave simulations and mmWave experimental setups, illustrating its effectiveness in achieving desired phase profiles and amplitude modulations for fixed-frequency beam steering at 60 GHz, as well as multibeam generation from a single aperture through a software-controlled paradigm. The design is scalable in frequency and can be utilized at lower frequency as well as for optical holograms at high frequency bands following similar design methodology. The proposed CELC meta-element marks a substantial advancement for dynamic metasurfaces, particularly for applications in next-generation metasurface antennas and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) enabled software wireless paradigm. This work provides a practical pathway to high-performance, energy-efficient solutions in next-generation wireless communication, sensing and imaging, advancing the scope and impact of dynamic metasurface technology for rapidly evolving high-frequency 6G wireless applications.