Reconfiguration of Electromagnetic Metasurfaces Using Tunable Shape Morphing Structures

Reconfigurable metamaterials and metasurfaces are of interest for a variety of functionalities for next-generation communications and sensing. However, electronically controlling large arrays is difficult, and traditional PCB technology has limited capabilities for conforming to curved surfaces. We demonstrate the use of novel magnetically reconfigurable shape morphing structures for metasurface applications. The reconfiguration is performed using a quasi-DC magnetic field, which decouples the electrical control problem from the electromagnetic design. In addition, the magnetic composite is flexible and can conform to various shapes. We have previously demonstrated the use of these structures for reconfigurable on-off filters. We also demonstrate fully wrapped conformability to cylindrical shapes.