Passive Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Based on Phase Change Material Switches

A novel passive reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) based on non-volatile phase change material (PCM) radio frequency (RF) switches is proposed in this work. Using nanotechnology, a non-volatile PCM RF switch is successfully manufactured, and the port scattering parameter files are extracted by an electronic network analyzer. With the extracted Touchstone files, a passive RIS is designed. Simulation results show that it could perform normal beam splitting functions similar to those of an active RIS.