Surface-Wave Dispersion Retrieval Method and Synthesis Technique for Bianisotropic Metasurfaces

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method for retrieving and synthesizing surface-wave dispersion in bianisotropic metasurfaces, enabling precise control of surface-wave propagation in complex environments.

Contribution

It presents a general zero-thickness sheet transition approach linking surface-wave modes to metasurface susceptibilities, applicable to symmetric and asymmetric structures.

Findings

Validated method against known dispersion relations.

Demonstrated control of surface-wave propagation direction.

Showed possibility of unidirectional surface-wave support.

Abstract

We propose a surface-wave dispersion retrieval method and synthesis technique that applies to bianisotropic metasurfaces that are embedded in symmetric or asymmetric environments. Specifically, we use general zero-thickness sheet transition conditions to relate the propagation constants of surface-wave modes to the bianisotropic susceptibility components of the metasurface, which can themselves be directly related to its scattering parameters. It is then possible to either obtain the metasurface dispersion diagram from its known susceptibilities or, alternatively, compute the susceptibilities required to achieve a desired surface-wave propagation. The validity of the method is demonstrated by comparing its results to those obtained with exact dispersion relations of well known structures such as the propagation of surface plasmons on thin metallic films. In particular, this work reveals that it is possible to achieve surface-wave propagation only on one side of the metasurface either by superposition of symmetric and asymmetric modes in the case of anisotropic metasurfaces or by completely forbidding the existence of the surface wave on one side of the structure using bianisotropic metasurfaces.