Terahertz dual phase gradient metasurface: high-efficiency binary-channel spoof surface plasmon excitation

Abstract

Spoof surface plasmon meta-couplers are compact antennas which link propagating waves and surface waves. However, most of them are designed with a fixed phase gradient and channel for the incident waves with specific polarization, which limits their further applications in multichannel scenarios. In this Letter, we propose, to the best of our knowledge, a new method that combines the Brillouin folds theory with the Generalized Snell Law. We demonstrate that when the phase gradient of the metasurface is large enough, Brillouin folds effect will occur, which will create dual phase gradient space in a single metasurface. With this method, we design two novel terahertz meta-couplers with functionalities of symmetrical and asymmetrical binary-channel/bidirectional SSP excitation. Furthermore, finite element method (FEM) simulations are performed to demonstrate their functionalities. Considering the orthogonality of the incident waves, there can be a total of four independent space channels to excite SSP on one metasurface. This work may open up new routes in multi-channel SSP meta-couplers and multi-beam surface wave antennas.