Conventional optical components rely on gradual phase shifts accumulated during light propagation to shape light beams. New degrees of freedom are attained by introducing abrupt phase changes over the scale of the wavelength. A two-dimensional array of optical resonators with spatially varying phase response and subwavelength separation can imprint such phase discontinuities on propagating light as it traverses the interface between two media. Anomalous reflection and refraction phenomena are observed in this regime in optically thin arrays of metallic antennas on silicon with a linear phase variation along the interface, which are in excellent agreement with generalized laws derived from Fermat’s principle. Phase discontinuities provide great flexibility in the design of light beams, as illustrated by the generation of optical vortices through use of planar designer metallic interfaces.

http://www.zenogaburro.it/papers/LightPropagation.pdf

Light Propagation with Phase Discontinuities: Generalized Laws of Reflection and Refraction

From the Publisher:
This book explores the meta-heuristics approach called tabu search, which is dramatically changing our ability to solve a hostof problems that stretch over the realms of resource planning,telecommunications, VLSI design, financial analysis, scheduling, spaceplanning, energy distribution, molecular engineering, logistics,pattern classification, flexible manufacturing, waste management,mineral exploration, biomedical analysis, environmental conservationand scores of other problems. The major ideas of tabu search arepresented with examples that show their relevance to multipleapplications. Numerous illustrations and diagrams are used to clarifyprinciples that deserve emphasis, and that have not always been wellunderstood or applied. The book's goal is to provide ''hands-on' knowledge and insight alike, rather than to focus exclusively eitheron computational recipes or on abstract themes. This book is designedto be useful and accessible to researchers and practitioners inmanagement science, industrial engineering, economics, and computerscience. It can appropriately be used as a textbook in a masterscourse or in a doctoral seminar. Because of its emphasis on presentingideas through illustrations and diagrams, and on identifyingassociated practical applications, it can also be used as asupplementary text in upper division undergraduate courses. 

Finally, there are many more applications of tabu search than canpossibly be covered in a single book, and new ones are emerging everyday. The book's goal is to provide a grounding in the essential ideasof tabu search that will allow readers to create successfulapplications of their own. Along with the essentialideas,understanding of advanced issues is provided, enabling researchers togo beyond today's developments and create the methods of tomorrow.

Tabu Search

The electric field integral equation (EFIE) is used with the moment method to develop a simple and efficient numerical procedure for treating problems of scattering by arbitrarily shaped objects. For numerical purposes, the objects are modeled using planar triangular surfaces patches. Because the EFIE formulation is used, the procedure is applicable to both open and closed surfaces. Crucial to the numerical formulation is the development of a set of special subdomain-type basis functions which are defined on pairs of adjacent triangular patches and yield a current representation free of line or point charges at subdomain boundaries. The method is applied to the scattering problems of a plane wave illuminated flat square plate, bent square plate, circular disk, and sphere. Excellent correspondence between the surface current computed via the present method and that obtained via earlier approaches or exact formulations is demonstrated in each case.

Electromagnetic scattering by surfaces of arbitrary shape

Metamaterials are artificially fabricated materials that allow for the control of light and acoustic waves in a manner that is not possible in nature. This Review covers the recent developments in the study of so-called metasurfaces, which offer the possibility of controlling light with ultrathin, planar optical components. Conventional optical components such as lenses, waveplates and holograms rely on light propagation over distances much larger than the wavelength to shape wavefronts. In this way substantial changes of the amplitude, phase or polarization of light waves are gradually accumulated along the optical path. This Review focuses on recent developments on flat, ultrathin optical components dubbed 'metasurfaces' that produce abrupt changes over the scale of the free-space wavelength in the phase, amplitude and/or polarization of a light beam. Metasurfaces are generally created by assembling arrays of miniature, anisotropic light scatterers (that is, resonators such as optical antennas). The spacing between antennas and their dimensions are much smaller than the wavelength. As a result the metasurfaces, on account of Huygens principle, are able to mould optical wavefronts into arbitrary shapes with subwavelength resolution by introducing spatial variations in the optical response of the light scatterers. Such gradient metasurfaces go beyond the well-established technology of frequency selective surfaces made of periodic structures and are extending to new spectral regions the functionalities of conventional microwave and millimetre-wave transmit-arrays and reflect-arrays. Metasurfaces can also be created by using ultrathin films of materials with large optical losses. By using the controllable abrupt phase shifts associated with reflection or transmission of light waves at the interface between lossy materials, such metasurfaces operate like optically thin cavities that strongly modify the light spectrum. Technology opportunities in various spectral regions and their potential advantages in replacing existing optical components are discussed.

Flat Optics With Designer Metasurfaces

This paper discusses the theoretical modeling and practical design of millimeter wave reflectarrays using microstrip patch elements of variable size. A full-wave treatment of plane wave reflection from a uniform infinite array of microstrip patches is described and used to generate the required patch-design data and to calculate the radiation patterns of the reflectarray. The critical parameters of millimeter wave reflectarray design, such as aperture efficiency, phase errors, losses, and bandwidth are also discussed. Several reflectarray feeding techniques are described, and measurements from four reflectarray design examples at 28 and 77 GHz are presented.

Design of millimeter wave microstrip reflectarrays

A new technique for feeding printed antennas is described A microstrip antenna on one substrate is coupled to a microstripline feed on another parallel substrate through an aperture in the ground plane which separates the two substrates A simple theory explaining the coupling mechanism is presented, as well as measurements of a prototype aperture-fed antenna

Microstrip antenna aperture-coupled to a microstripline

A moment method solution to the problem of input impedance and mutual coupling of rectangular microstrip antenna elements is presented. The formulation uses the grounded dielectric slab Green's function to account rigorously for the presence of the substrate and surface waves. Both entire basis (EB) and piecewise sinosoidal (PWS) expansion modes are used, and their relative advantages are noted. Calculations of input impedance and mutual coupling are compared with measured data and other calculatious.

Input impedance and mutual coupling of rectangular microstrip antennas

This review article discusses the use of the active element pattern for prediction of the scan performance of large phased array antennas. The introduction and application of the concept of the active element pattern goes back at least 30 years but the subject is generally not covered in modern antenna engineering textbooks or handbooks, and many contemporary workers are unfamiliar with this simple but powerful idea. In addition, early references on this subject do not provide a rigorous discussion or derivation of the active element pattern, relying instead on a more qualitative interpretation. The purpose of this article is to make the technique of active element patterns more accessible to antenna engineers, and to provide a new derivation of the basic active element pattern relations in terms of scattering parameters. >

The active element pattern

A method is presented for the analysis of slot-type discontinuities in microstripline. The approach is based on the reciprocity theorem and uses the exact Green's functions for the grounded dielectric slab in a moment method solution for the unknown antenna currents. The method is applied to two specific geometries: a radiating slot in the ground plane of a microstripline, and an aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna. Results for antenna impedance are compared with measurements, and far-zone patterns are calculated. The method is shown to be quite versatile, and should find application to related problems.

David M. Pozar

Papers

Design of millimeter wave microstrip reflectarrays

Microstrip antenna aperture-coupled to a microstripline

Input impedance and mutual coupling of rectangular microstrip antennas

The active element pattern

A reciprocity method of analysis for printed slot and slot-coupled microstrip antennas