Information transmission using perfect composite vortex beams generated by polarization-mode-superposition-based metasurfaces

Addressing the demand for high-capacity and high-dimensional information transmission in the terahertz band, this study designs and demonstrates a terahertz metasurface with polarization-mode superposition fabricated via 3D printing technology. By integrating vortex, axicon, and lens phase profiles, this metasurface can efficiently generate perfect composite vortex beams and independently, flexibly control the beam’s annular radius and spatial rotation angle. Leveraging this multidimensional control freedom, this research innovatively maps different beam morphological parameter combinations to binary codes, thereby establishing an optical information encoding and transmission scheme. A complete proof-of-principle demonstration—encompassing image encoding, physical transmission, and decoding reconstruction—was successfully conducted. This work provides an integrated device solution for terahertz wavefront manipulation and high-dimensional optical information processing, showing promising application potential in fields such as 6G terahertz communications, optical encryption, and dynamic holographic displays.