Analog Signal Processing with Discrete Space Metamaterials

This abstract presents a new form of computational metamaterials, which are able to perform arbitrary mathematical operations. The new type of metamaterials are inspired by digital filters and consist of first sampling an optical wave in space and then designing a metamaterial that performs a desired operation on the spatially discretized wave. The design of the metamaterial boils down to the design of a discrete-port network with a given scattering matrix, which can be efficiently accomplished through inverse design algorithms. In this way, we are not limited to specific operations matching the inherent nonlocal responses of metamaterials, as happens with conventional computational metamaterials, and can implement complex mathematical operations.