Bifunctional Metamaterials Using Spatial Phase Gradient Architectures: Generalized Reflection and Refraction Considerations

We report the possibility of achieving normal-incidence transmission at non-normal incidence angles using thin interfaces made of metasurface structures with an appropriately-designed positive spatial phase distributions. The reported effect represents a consequence of generalized reflection and refraction, which, although having been studied for discovering exotic effects such as negative refraction, to the best of our knowledge fails to address normal incidence conditions in positive phase distribution and its underlying consequences. Normal-incidence conditions can be angle-tuned by modifying the vales of the phase distribution gradients. Furthermore, for configurations around the normal-incidence angles, the metasurface will exhibit a bifunctional behavior—either divergent or convergent. All these properties are essential for applications such as optical guiding in integrated optics, wave front sensing devices, polarization controllers, wave front-to-polarization converters, holographic sensors, and spatially-resolved polarization measurement.