Transistor based Active Tunable and Switchable Metasurface

High power signals traveling along the surface of the shielding of transmitter systems may leak into the system through openings or discontinuities between connecting parts and cause damage to vulnerable electronic devices or interference to antenna systems. In our work, we introduce the first transistor- based, high-power, switchable and tunable surface wave absorbing metasurface. Two topologies of absorbing surfaces are designed, fabricated and tested in waveguide. The proposed metasurfaces absorb high power surface currents, with active tunable absorption rate and switchable properties. A large panel with a slit working as a slot antenna is fabricated and measured. The tunable, switchable and sharp response ability to incoming microwave power are demonstrated. This high-power, switchable and tunable transistor-based surface wave metasurface absorber has a unique electronically reconfigurable absorption control ability, which could be used in against a wide range of incident power levels that may cause damage or interference to the communications systems or sensitive microwave components being shielded. Meanwhile, diode based power dependent switchable surface wave absorbers as well as non-linear rectifier based waveform dependent absorbers will be also introduced. Overall, by applying active electronics to passive metasurfaces will introduce non-linearity, tunability and switching ability to the surface that enhance the performances.