Metasurface engineering via evolutionary processes

Abstract

Metasurfaces enable a new avenue to engineered responses of the electromagnetic scattering characteristics through the control and manipulation of the wavefronts. The wavefronts are tuned by altering deeply sub-wavelength structural features on the metasurface. In this work, a heuristic technique is used where the conductive topology of the metasurfaces for a fixed form factor is optimized by a multi-objective genetic algorithm mimicking evolutionary processes. Analysis is performed for the engineered metasurface responses for frequency-selectivity, absorption, rasorber characteristics, and photonic nanojet generation. Computational electromagnetic simulations for these engineered metasurfaces are presented and discussed. The concepts presented in this work can be applied to design metasurfaces and metamaterials from the microwave to the optical regimes.