2023 International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS)
Polarization Reconfigurable Intelligent Metasurface
for X- & Ku-band Applications in Communications
Muhammad Sumaid Ahsaan Gul Hassan
School of Electrical Engineering School of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science (SEECS) and Computer Science (SEECS)
National University of Sciences National University of Sciences
and Technology (NUST) and Technology (NUST)
Islamabad,44000, Pakistan Islamabad,44000, Pakistan
mchatha.msee18seecs@student.n ahsaangulhassan@gmail.com
ust.edu.pk
Abstract— This article presents a polarization reconfigurable
intelligent metasurface (PRIM) to realize on demand switchable
cross polarization conversion and circular polarization conversion
by linearly incident electromagnetic (EM) wave through globally
tuned PIN diode models. The unit cell structure of PRIM consists
of I-Shaped structure supported with split circle and biasing lines
to control the states of voltage-controlled PIN diodes. The modeled
PIN diodes are incorporated in between split circle and on the
edges of unit cells. The ON/OFF states of these PIN diodes can
switch the polarization state of a wave between linear and circular
2023 International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS) | 978-1-6654-9075-7/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IMAS55807.2023.10066931
polarizations. The novel approach ensures the provision of
electronically controlled, ultra-wide band (UWB) reflective
circular-polarization in one state and cross-polarization in the
other, over same functional frequency band of X- and Ku-band.
The results demonstrate that in open/off state the metasurface
presents cross polarization ranging from 9 GHz to 19 GHz, while
in short/on state metasurface presents circular polarization
ranging from 10 GHz to 22 GHz. The designed metasurface is
fabricated using hardwire-bond technique to replicate
functionality of diodes and tested to validate the performance of
PRIM.
Keywords— Electromagnetic (EM), ultra-wide band (UWB)
polarization Reconfigurable Intelligent Metasurface (PRIM),
I. INTRODUCTION
Some remarkable efforts have been done for controlling
and transformation of polarization, which is one of the most
important properties of electromagnetic waves [1]. The
polarization transformation can be achieved by using
polarization converting metasurfaces [1]. A number of
multiple type of polarization converting metasurfaces can be
seen in literature, i-e, microwave [2], visible [3] and optical
[4] regimes, and in reflection [5], transmission [6] and
absorption [7] modes. Such polarization converting
metasurfaces can perform transformation into linear to linear
(LTL), linear to cross (LTC) or linear to circular polarization
(CP) at instant. These metasurfaces have some unique
features, i.e., multiband, broadband, or high efficiency and
thinness. However, these metasurfaces cannot be tuned once
the designing process is completed. With the growth and
advancement in modern wireless communication systems,
polarization-reconfigurability (PR) and controllable
polarization techniques emerges as vital part for size reduction
and provides frequency reuse. Recently an extensive study has
been done on reconfigurable devices, which includes
switchable and tunable metasurfaces, in microwave and
terahertz regimes [5]–[12]. In general, there are three major
types of known techniques to make a reconfigurable device:
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Nosherwan Shoaib Symeon Nikolaou
School of Electrical Engineering Frederick Research Center
and Computer Science (SEECS) (FRC) and Department of
National University of Sciences Electrical Computer Engineering
and Technology (NUST) and Informatics, Frederick
Islamabad,44000, Pakistan University,1036, Nicosia, Cyprus
nosherwan.shoaib@seecs.edu.pk s.nikolaou@frederick.ac.cy
firstly, mechanically operational devices were introduced
[10],[11], secondly through changing dielectric materials [13],
[14] and on the last by using voltage controlled electronic
devices [1]–[6]. For mechanically operated metasurface, it is
difficult to switch the state of device and its functionality in
fast manner due to its clumsy operational mechanism. In
second method, different materials (i.e., graphene [13] and
microfluids [14]) were adopted to put back conventional
dielectric materials. However, it is found difficult to design
and manipulate EM waves on lower frequencies through this
method. To cater this problem, voltage-controlled elements (i-
e. MEMS switches, PIN diodes and Varactor diodes) are used
to electrically manipulate polarization state. In [8], a voltage-
controlled polarization converter using p-i-n diodes is
proposed. The two states (ON/OFF) of diodes switches the
polarization state between linear and circular polarizations.
The controllability feature, switched polarization from RHCP
to LHCP wave is presented in [12]. Researchers are working
to develop a multifunctional metasurface, which can use a
monolayer metasurface to perform diversified functionalities.
A multifunctional device is proposed [20], by integrating both
PIN and varactor diodes and controlled simultaneously, by a
complex direct current (DC) biasing network. Another active
metasurface is proposed in [10] with simpler DC biasing
network.
In this article, a reflection-based voltage controlled
polarization reconfigurable intelligent metasurface is
presented with on surface dc biasing paths using RT5870
substrate. The use of fast time varying PIN diodes enables
control over incident EM waves, and reflected polarization
can be switched between LTC and CP. The simplicity of dc
biasing paths and complete wide band switching over X and
Ku-band makes it a potential candidate for many applications
in the strategic X, and Ku bands.
II. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
The PIN diode is an ideal candidate for switching
applications in electronic devices. It is used in RF
applications such as RF switches and attenuators. As PIN
diode obeys the basic diode equation for lower frequencies.
For higher frequencies, it acts as perfect resistor (Ron) due to
stored charges over intrinsic region in forward biasing. For
lower frequencies, charges can be removed to switch off
diode. while on higher frequencies, PIN diodes never go
under complete switched off condition due to insufficient
time to discharge the intrinsic region. Therefore, under high
frequency diode acts as a variable resistor (Roff) ranging (10
 2023 International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS)

kΩ-100 kΩ) accordingly with small parallel capacitance reflected wave in a wideband ranging from 10 to 22 GHz due
(Coff) offered by the package. to the central segment of I-structure.

(a)

(b)

Figure 1 Diode model (a) Zero Biasing (b) Forward Biasing

(a) (b)
(a) Figure 3 Unit Cell design (a) open state (b) short state
(b)
TABLE I. UNIT CELL DIMENSIONS (MM)

R L L1 L2 L3 L4 W W1 Wc
1.3 6 2.45 1.63 1.3 2.1 0.6 0.57 0.53

Figure 2 Comparison with diode model and hard wire bonding

technique (HWBT) (a) Cross-polarization state (b) Circular-
Polarization state

After a brief comparison Skyworks DSG9500-000 is selected

keeping in view its small capacitance of 0.025 pF in zero
biasing state and low resistance of 4 Ω in forward biasing
condition and integrated using lumped element in PRIM. The
electrical equivalent model for selected diode is given in Fig
1. While for hard wire bonding technique (HWBT) open and
short states are considered and it is realized through Fig 2,
that both (with diodes and with HWBT) functionality of
PRIM remains the same. The optimized design of periodic
unit cell for polarization reconfigurable intelligent
metasurface is composed of I-shaped metallic patch, in
cooperated with circular split patch, feed with horizontal
biasing line as depicted in Fig 3. The inset depicts the
dimensions of unit cell. To design a reconfigurable
metasurface, Rogers RT5870 is used as dielectric material,
with permittivity of (3.33) and loss tangent of (0.0019). The
substrate is backed by complete ground patch of copper
material to curb any type of transmission and provide
maximum reflection. The material used for main design is
copper with conductivity of 5.80×107 S/m and thickness
0.035 mm. The optimized physical dimensions of unit cell
structure to achieve maximum polarization conversion in
both states are given in table 1, with substrate thickness of
h=3.175 mm and periodicity p = 8 mm.
To perform simulation analysis, normally incident EM
wave is excited on two states of PRIM (forward biasing with
5V volts and zero biasing with no voltage) are considered.
The PIN diodes are examined to be in On state under 5V
biasing voltage. This state is simulated by CST lumped
element model using diode equivalent electric circuit of 4Ω
series resistance. To connect and disconnect the arms,
switches are used, later these switches were replaced by hard
wires offering the same functionality using two different
states (open and short). For on condition, short state is used
to convert linearly incident wave into a circular polarized
Figure 4 Reconfigurable polarization converter and its working
The 900 phase difference and same magnitude of the
orthogonal components cause circularly polarized reflected
wave. The orthogonal components of simulation based
reflected wave in On state using diode model and short state
using HWBT are shown in Fig. 2(b). To validate, AR is
presented in Fig. 5(b), it is visible from the results, that the
proposed PRIM converts linearly incident wave, efficiently
into circular polarized reflected wave, over frequency band
of 10 to 22 GHz, with less than 3dB AR.
(𝑅 cos 𝑎 − 𝑅 cos ∆𝜑 sin 𝛼) + 𝑅 sin ∆𝜑 sin 𝛼
𝐴𝑅 = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔10
(𝑅 sin 𝑎 − 𝑅 cos ∆𝜑 cos 𝛼) + 𝑅 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∆𝜑 cos 𝛼 (1)
1 2𝑅 𝑅 cos ∆𝜑
𝑎= arctan( ) (2)
2 𝑅 −𝑅
Under zero voltage (Off state) the PIN diodes act as open
circuit structure, modelled as a 10 KΩ resistance, parallel with
a low capacitance of 0.002pF using CST lumped element
model and with HWBT. Through extended arms of central I-
composition, cross polarized wave is achieved by incidence of
linearly polarized wave. Fig 2(a) shows simulation-based
cross polarization, over frequency band of 9 to 19 GHz. The
difference of cross and co components of the reflected cross
polarized wave is greater than 10 dB which infers high energy
conversion. It can be predicted from Fig 2(a) that the
techniques used for the modelling of PRIM offer
homogeneous functionalities. Furthermore, polarization
conversion ratio (PCR) is shown in fig 5(a) calculated using
Eq (3). It is depicted that under the range of 9 to 19 GHz, 90%
efficiency is achieved.
R
PCR = (3)
R + R

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 2023 International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS)
40
(a)
20
0 (b)
-20
-40
Figure 5 Simulated Results (a) PCR & Ellipticity (b) AR & PER
III. RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION
The proposed metasurface is simulated using Pre-defined
Floquet boundary conditions along x- and y- axis of unit cell.
Using optimized dimensions, PRIM observes the acceptable
criterion to convert incident electric field into cross polarized
component less than -10 dB and for co- component close to 0
dB in open state. The capability of cross-polarization of a
metasurface, is introduced in Fig. 5(a) using polarization
conversion ratio, which is above 90% over desired bandwidth
of 9-19 GHz in open state. For the validation of CP, in short
state, polarization extinction ratio (PER) is studied using Eq
(4). As it defines the polarization handedness and conversion
efficiency of CP wave. Relation between handedness of right-
hand circular polarization (RHCP) and left-hand circular
polarization (LHCP) is given by R (+y) and R (-y)
respectively. for pure CP, PER should be greater than +20 dB
or less than -20 dB. In Fig 5(b) PER remains greater than +20
dB for entire operational band of 10 to 22 GHz, with
maximum amplitude of PER goes up to 50 dB at three
resonating frequencies (11.5, 16.4 and 19.9 GHz). While at 7
GHz RHCP is converted into LHCP due to shift in phase
difference. This explains the transverse electric wave is
converted into RHCP and LHCP within frequency band of 9
to 22 GHz, in short state.
|𝑅 |
𝑃𝐸𝑅 = 20 ∗ 𝑙𝑜𝑔
|𝑅 |
1 2𝑅 sin 𝜑
η = sin
2 1+𝑅
where 𝑅= 𝑅 /𝑅 and 𝜑 = 𝑎𝑟𝑔 𝑅 - 𝑅 . biasing condition, open state with disconnected copper patch
Another important parameter is used to validate the
polarization conversion. The ellipticity (ƞ) can be structured
in mathematically as given in Eq 5 as it is the ratio between
horizontal and diagonal axis. The Fig 5(a) depicts ellipticity
of reflected wave, as it reaches up to -1 at three resonating
frequencies (11.5, 16.4 and 19.9 GHz), hence it verifies
circular polarization for complete band (9 GHz to 22 GHz) in
short state. In addition to Ellipticity, the capability of circular
polarization of a metasurface, is validated through AR using
Eq (1) and (2) is presented in Fig. 5(b). which is completely
converted from cross polarization (open state) to circular
polarization (short state) over desired bandwidth of (10-21
GHz). Several applications demand highly stable metasurface
for transverse EM incidence wave. It can be depicted from Fig
6(a-b), the proposed PRIM is angularly stable up to 200 in the
frequency band of 10 GHz to 21 GHz accept around 15GHz
for circular polarization in short state and up to 400 stables in
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frequency range of 9 GHz to 19 GHz for cross polarization in
open state. However, for higher frequencies (15 to 20 GHz)
(a) (b)
(a)
Figure 6 Angular Stability (a) Open State (b) Short State
Figure 7 Fabricated hardware RT5807 (a) short (b) open state
Figure 8 Measurement Setup (a) Cross-Component (b) Co-
Component
reconfigurable metasurface losses its angular stability in short
case beyond 300.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS
In order to validate simulated results, the proposed
metasurface is fabricated on 210 × 297 𝑚𝑚2 RT5870 sheet
backed with complete ground plane of copper as shown in Fig
(4) 7. To produce different states, two separate sheets with HWBT
is used instead of physical diodes. Short state of HWBT is
used to realize diode’s forward biasing condition as shown in
(5)
inset of Fig 7(a). On other hand for diode’s reverse/zero
design is used to obtain cross polarization, as shown in Fig
7(b). To measure co- and cross components of reflected wave,
broad band horn antennas are used with 450 polarization. This
experiment is carried out for y-polarized incident field. To
obtain co-polarized reflection coefficient (Ryy), both
transmitting and receiving antennas were placed parallel to
each other on 450 polarization angles. While for the cross-
polarized reflection coefficient (Rxy), transmitting and
receiving antennas were placed orthogonal (900) to each other
while maintaining 450 polarization angles. The measurements
were carried out in an anechoic chamber. The Fig. 8 shows the
experimental setup with two horn antennas placed in front of
reflective PRIM to measure co- and cross-components of the
reflected field. The designed metasurface can be seen held up
in wooden stand providing firm support to fabricated PRIM.
Fig 9 (a) and (b) presents comparison between simulated and
measured results for both open and short states respectively. It
is depicted, that both measured and simulated results are in
253
 2023 International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS)

good agreement. Small discrepancies are observed due to
limited cross-section of fabricated metasurface, imperfections
of measurement setup and misalignment between transmitting
and receiving antennas.
metasurface exhibits wide band cross polarization on same
frequency band (9 to 19 GHz) and angular stability of 400.
The compact size, angular stability and reconfigurability
feature make this metasurface a potential candidate for many
applications including miniaturized cavity resonators,
angular-independent surfaces, wave-guiding structures and
biomedical devices.

(a) (b) VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research was co-funded by the European Regional
Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the
Research and Innovation Foundation, under the projects,
Figure 9 Measured and Simulated parameters (a) open state (b) INFRASTRUCTURES/1216/0042-RF-META and
short state
EXCELLENCE/0421/0495 - SMURFS.
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