A dynamic aperture is disclosed. A dynamic aperture includes a base layer, a conductive structure disposed on the base layer, and a layer of a material having a dynamically controllable electrical conductivity that is disposed over the base layer and the conductive structure. A transmission profile of the dynamic aperture is determined by a combination of the conductive structure and the layer of the material. The transmission profile is dynamically alterable by controlling the electrical conductivity of the layer of the material.

A reconfigurable antenna comprises a panel having a liquid metal pump coupled to a power supply; a liquid metal reservoir in fluid communication with the pump; one or more channels for transporting the liquid metal, each of the one or more channels having a proximal end in fluid communication with the pump, each of the one or more channels having a vent at a distal end, wherein application of power to the pump moves the liquid metal into or out of the channels thereby reconfiguring the antenna. The pump may be a pneumatic pump or a magnetohydrodynamic pump, and a layer of a phosphonic acid may be included on the liquid metal-bearing surfaces of the channels. The phosphonic acid may be decylphosphonic acid (DPA), fluorobenzylphosphonic acid (FPA), or difluorobenzylphosphonic acid (DFPA), and one or more sensors may be coupled to the panel for determining the position of the liquid metal in the channels.

The disclosed structures and methods are directed to antenna systems configured to transmit and receive a wireless signal in and from different directions. A switchable lens antenna has excitation ports radiating radio-frequency (RF) wave into a parallel-plate waveguide structure, and a frequency selective structure (FSS). The antenna presented herein is configured to operate in two modes depending on a steering angle of the RF wave propagating in the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When the steering angle is about or less than a threshold steering angle, FSS is OFF due to its stubs being electrically disconnected from the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When the steering angle is higher than the threshold, FSS is ON with stubs being electrically connected to the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When ON, FSS provides phase variance to the RF wave propagating in the parallel-plate waveguide structure and increases steering angle of the RF wave.

Various examples are provided related to hybrid multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) architectures. Beam steering can be provided using lens arrays. In one example, a hybrid antenna system includes a plurality of lens antenna subarrays (LAS), each of the LAS including a plurality of antenna elements configured to selectively receive a radio frequency (RF) transmission signal from RF processing circuitry, and a lens extending across the plurality of antenna elements. The RF transmission signal can be provided to a selected antenna of the plurality of antenna elements via a switching network and a common phase shifter for transmission. The lens can be configured to steer a RF transmission generated by the selected antenna in a defined direction. The selected antenna can be determined by the switching network configuration.

A switchable artificial magnetic conductor (S-AMC) element that includes a conductive layer, a conductive patch located on one side of the conductive layer and electrically isolated from the conductive layer, and an open stub located on an opposite side of the conductive layer and electrically isolated from the conductive layer. A switch element is configured to selectively open and close an electrical connection between the conductive patch and the open stub in response to a control signal. When the electrical connection is closed the conductive patch presents a high impedance, magnetically conductive surface for radio frequency (RF) signals within a defined frequency band, and when the electrical connection is open the conductive patch presents an electrically conductive surface for RF signals within the defined frequency band.

According to various embodiments, an array of elements forms an artificially-structured material. The artificially-structured material can also include an array of tuning mechanisms included as part of the array of elements that are configured to change material properties of the artificially-structured material on a per-element basis. The tuning mechanisms can change the material properties of the artificially-structured material by changing operational properties of the elements in the array of elements on a per-element basis based on one or a combination of stimuli detected by sensors included in the array of tuning mechanisms, programmable circuit modules included as part of the array of tuning mechanisms, data stored at individual data stores included as part of the array of tuning mechanisms, and communications transmitted through interconnects included as part of the array of elements.

The present invention discloses a reconfigurable wideband phase-switched screen (PSS) based on an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC). Gap capacitance between patches is controlled by changing the capacitance of varactors, so that periodic units have a plurality of continuous frequency points. A phase difference between two adjacent frequency bands is 143-217, so that the periodic structure absorbs incident electromagnetic waves in a wide frequency band, and the broadband PSS is implemented with a relative bandwidth of 45.2%. The AMC structure according to the present invention is simple in structure and easy to process, with a thickness less than one twentieth of the working wavelength, and greatly reduces size and costs.

The communication system as described herein includes an input feed, a source, and a tuner device. The input feed receives an input signal. The source emits a wireless signal based on the received input signal. The tuner device is disposed adjacent to the source emitting the wireless signal. The tuner device receives the wireless signal emitted from the source and produces a wireless output. In one embodiment, the tunable device includes multiple individually controlled window regions to control a radiation pattern of the wireless output transmitted from the tuner device.

A direct radiation wireless digital communication system based on a digital programmable metamaterial, including a transmitting system and a receiving system, where information transmitted by the transmitting system is loaded to a programmable metamaterial, and is directly radiated into free space in a form of an ever-changing far-field pattern under the illumination of a feeding antenna; the receiving system collects electric field values received by receiving antennas located at different positions of a far-field region to obtain a far-field pattern, and recovers the transmitted original information according to a mapping relationship between the far-field pattern and a coding sequence. The system does not require a digital-to-analog conversion module and a frequency mixing module. The system also features an inherent secrete communication in the physical level which protects the transmitted information from being intercepted at a single point or any random points, and has the capabilities of self-adaption and self-perception.

The method is provided for fabricating an optical metasurface. The method may include depositing a conductive layer over a holographic region of a wafer and depositing a dielectric layer over the conducting layer. The method may also include patterning a hard mask on the dielectric layer. The method may further include etching the dielectric layer to form a plurality of dielectric pillars with a plurality of nano-scale gaps between the pillars.