Four-channel meta-hologram enabled by a frequency-multiplexed mono-layered geometric phase metasurface

Abstract

In recent years, frequency-multiplexed metasurfaces have received extensive attention due to the increasing demand for multifunction integration and communication capacity. However, multi-channel studies achieved with a mono-layered frequency-multiplexed metasurface are limited. Herein, a universal design strategy for a frequency-multiplexed mono-layered geometric phase metasurface is proposed by utilizing Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase modulations. The elementary meta-atom is judiciously designed to transmit the cross-polarized component of a circularly polarized incident wave at four distinct frequencies with independent 360° phase shifts and a constant amplitude of 0.48, close to the theoretical limit of 0.5. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, a four-channel meta-hologram is designed to achieve distinct holographic images of “three foci”, “five foci”, “J” and “X” at 7.2 GHz, 9.1 GHz, 10.9 GHz, and 15.2 GHz respectively. The images are projected in the desired azimuth planes by exploiting the time-shifting properties of the Fourier transform. The experimental and full-wave simulation results are in good agreement, which indicates that the proposed strategy has great potentials in various applications, such as multi-channel imaging and information encryption technology.