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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Coherent retroreflective metasurfaces

F. S. Cuesta*, G. A. Ptitcyn, M. S. Mirmoosa, and S. A. Tretyakov

  • Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 15500, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland

  • *Corresponding author: francisco.cuestasoto@aalto.fi
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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L032025 – Published 30 July, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L032025

Abstract

Inhomogeneous metasurfaces have shown possibilities for unprecedented control of wave propagation and scattering. While it is conventional to shine a single incident plane wave from one side of these metastructures, illuminating by several waves simultaneously from both sides may enhance possibilities to control scattered waves, which results in additional functionalities and novel applications. Here, we unveil how by using coherent plane-wave illumination of a properly designed inhomogeneous metasurface sheet it is possible to realize controllable retroreflection. We call these metasurfaces “coherent retroreflectors” and explain the method for realizing them both in theory and in practice. We show that coherent retroreflectors can be used for filtering undesired modes and creation of field-localization regions in waveguides. The latter application is in resemblance to bound states in the radiation continuum.

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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L032025– Published 30 July, 2021
  • Received 22 December 2020
  • Accepted 28 June 2021
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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