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OPEN Beam steering flexible transparent

metasurfaces based on multi-bit
phase gradient variations
Meijia Guo, Penghui Xin, Haoyuan Sun, Hengfeng Li, Leonid F. Chernogor, Zhejun Jin,
Tian Liu & Yu Zheng
In this study, a coded metasurface design employing the Pancharatnam–Berry (PB) phase principle
was proposed, with precise beam steering achieved via phase gradient variations. The designed
metasurfaces have the characteristics of flexibility and transparency. The metasurface unit uses a
modified C structure to form dual-resonant points to form a wide frequency band, and the PB phase
satisfy the relationship between the rotation angle of the element and the double difference of the
reflected phase, by encoding metasurface arrays, functions such as reducing linearly polarized radar
cross sections (RCS) and steering circularly polarized beams can be achieved. The array effectively
reduces the linear polarization RCS in the 13–20 GHz band by rotating the phase difference between
the unit metasurfaces. Under circularly polarized plane wave excitation, the metasurface unit achieves
a high polarization conversion ratio (PCR) of approximately 0.9 within the 14–25 GHz frequency band.
Experimental results show that the metasurface array achieves ± 50° wide-angle beam steering along
both X- and Y-axes while maintaining 82% visible-light transmittance, providing potential applications
in flexible electronics and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS).

Keywords Beam steering, Flexible metasurface, Multi-bit, Phase gradient variations, Transparency,
Wideband

Metasurface is an artificial structure composed of sub-wavelength scale elements arranged on a two-dimensional

surface, which has garnered significant attention due to its unique electromagnetic (EM) properties. It can
manipulate the phase1–3, amplitude4,5, and polarization conversion6 in a flexible manner. Additionally, it enables
various special and advantageous functions, such as anomalous refraction and reflection7,8, multi-beamforming9,
and RCS reduction10, making it suitable for applications such as focusing lenses11, antennas12–14, absorbers15, or
radar radomes16. The rapid development of metasurfaces has opened up a wide research field for the artificial
control of electromagnetic waves. Beam control of electromagnetic waves holds great significance in numerous
sensing systems and defense communication applications, and it remains a problem that needs to be addressed.
Some typical applications of metasurfaces in beam control include beam splitters17,18, vortex beam generators19,
and multi-beam antennas20.
The mm-wave antenna array is equipped with phase-controlled beam-steerable elements21, allowing for a
beam scanning range of ± 76° within the 26–30 GHz band. Metasurfaces can be programmable and controlled
in the terahertz frequency band, enabling different optical control through various coding methods to achieve
multi-beam separation in the terahertz band22. By utilizing three layers of components to control transmission
phase and amplitude, metasurfaces can generate high-performance fan-shaped beams (with azimuth angle ranges
from -40° to 40°) within the rectangular coordinate system of 9.1–10.9 GHz23. These studies and applications
demonstrate the flexible manipulation ability of metasurfaces towards electromagnetic waves. While most
research on metasurfaces has been limited to rigid materials and application scope24,25, flexible transparent
materials such as liquid crystals and liquid metals have been mentioned in some research results26,27. There is
potential for valuable research on electromagnetic wave beam steering across complex shapes and surfaces with
the emergence of irregular antennas, flexible electronics, and new devices.
This work proposes a multi-bit phase coding metasurface (MPCM) using the PB phase principle, which
consists of a flexible, transparent, independent, function-reflective element surface with circular polarization.
Based on the PB phase control of the reflection phase, the MPCM rotates the top layer structure design, causing
phase changes to form a specific cell surface array to achieve a specific electromagnetic function. The conceptual
diagram is shown in Fig. 1a, where a flexible transparent coded metasurface array with 4-bit phase gradient

College of Electronic Information, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China. email: sdqdlt@qdu.edu.cn;
zhengyu@qdu.edu.cn

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Fig. 1. Conceptual design of integral array and its unit structure material and its structural parameters.

variation is designed for plane wave incidence. Simulations and tests prove that the vertical beam control range
of the metasurface in the horizontal X and Y direction is ± 50° in the 14–25 GHz frequency band. Finally, MPCM
arrays also exhibit ease of fabrication and efficient precise control.

Metasurface unit design

Figure 1c illustrates the proposed structure of the element, which exhibits a favorable reflection effect. The
surface structure of the element comprises five layers. The overall design of the metasurface is called MPCM,
with the top pattern consisting of multiple splits of the elliptical structure. The period of the unit element is
4 mm, the minor half-axis r of the elliptical structure is 0.9 mm, the ratio is 1.8, and the major half-axis R is
1.62 mm. This element structure employs the principle of the PB phase, rotating the ITO (Indium Tin Oxide)
surface design to achieve the desired phase gradient. The rotation angle, β, serves as a crucial parameter for
controlling the phase of the reflected wave, without the need for introducing a new geometry. Figure 1d illustrates
that the unit structure comprises two layers of ITO, each with a thickness of 0.01 mm and a surface resistance
of 5 Ω/sq. Indium Tin Oxide, a ternary compound composed of indium oxide (In₂O₃) and tin oxide (SnO₂),
is a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) material characterized by high optical transparency (> 80%) in the
visible spectrum and low electrical resistivity. The ITO structure is affixed to a PET (polyethylene terephthalate)
attachment layer, which has a thickness of 0.125 mm, a relative dielectric constant of 3, a loss angle tangent of
0.06, and a single dielectric layer. The upper layer of ITO has a grid pattern, whereas the lower layer of ITO fully
envelops the dielectric plate. To provide flexibility to the overall structure, a 1.6 mm thick layer of flexible PVC
(Polyvinyl chloride) is used as the dielectric substrate. The relative dielectric constant of PVC is 3.2, and its loss
tangent is 0.013. The dimensions of the structure are 4 × 4 × 1.6 mm (D = 4 mm, H = 0.075λ0), λ0 is the free-space
wavelength at the center frequency of the metasurface.
To investigate the reflection properties of the developed metasurface element, the MPCM unit was simulated
using CST Microwave Studio, a commercial software. The unit was exposed to a linearly polarized wave,
employing a single cell boundary in the x and y directions to replicate periodic boundary conditions, while an
open boundary was established in the z direction, with the incident electromagnetic wave directed along the
+ z axis. When the top ITO wreath structure is rotated at a certain angle under the incident linearly polarized
wave, the performance results shows significant variations. The simulation results include the unit structure’s
reflection coefficient curve (S11) and PCR10, S11 is used to measure the reflection performance of metasurfaces
against electromagnetic waves.
2 2
rxy ryx
P CR = or 2 (1)
2
rxy + ryy ryx + rxx
2 2

Figure 2a illustrates the results of the parameter optimization for the opening length (L) of the unit. At L = 1.1 mm,
the S11 of the unit remains below − 10 dB within the frequency range of 14–25 GHz. As illustrated in Fig. 2b,
the polarization conversion ratio of the unit is also 0.9 or higher in this frequency band. The simulation results
presented in Fig. 2c, d indicate that ITO with a lower surface resistance (Rs) exhibits superior performance in

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Fig. 2. Performance of the unit structure under the incident of online polarized wave (a) cell parameter L
optimized S11 simulation results (b) Cell parameter L optimized PCR results (c) Top-level ITO rotating phase
diagram (d) Top-level ITO rotating PCR results.

terms of S11 and PCR. Given that the ITO with a surface resistance of 5 Ω/sq has a wide range of applications,
this material is utilized for practical applications. Furthermore, when the rotation angles (β) of the ITO surface
structure on the top layer of the metasurface are set to 45° and 135°, the polarization conversion ratios, as
depicted in Fig. 2f, are both above 0.9. The phase results from the simulation, as depicted in Fig. 2e, indicate that
the garland structure exhibits a phase difference of π (180°) when rotated at angles of 45° and 135°, respectively.
This suggests that it can be utilized as a 1-bit metasurface-coded array.

Array design
Consider a general square metasurface that consists of M × N equal-sized lattices, with each lattice occupied
by a subarray of different elements. The distribution can be arbitrary, assuming that the scattering phase of
each lattice is denoted as φ(m,n), and its value is distinct. When a plane wave is incident normally, the far-field
function scattered by the metasurface can be expressed as Eq. (2)28. The angle is shown in Fig. 1a, where θ and φ
represent the elevation and azimuth angles in any direction, respectively, and denote the mode functions of the

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lattice. The terms fe(θ,φ) in Eq. (3) are eliminated, and from the above equation, it is evident that the scattered
field can be controlled through the coded metasurface lattice.
f (θ, φ) = fe (θ, φ)
∑
N ∑
N
(2)
exp {−i {φ (m, n) + kD sin θ [(m − 1/2) cos φ + (n − 1/2) sin φ]}}
m=1 n=1
∫ 2π ∫ π/2
2
Dir(θ, φ) = 4π |f (θ, φ)| / |f (θ, φ)|2 sin θdθdφ(3)
0 0

The ITO phase metasurface is designed according to the PB phase principle, resulting in coding units "0" and "1"
featuring distinct phase distributions. As depicted in Fig. 2e, within the frequency spectrum spanning from 14
to 25 GHz, the phase difference between the coding units “0” and “1” is maintained at ± π. On the surface of the
1-bit coding element, the “0” and “1” units are alternately arranged along both the x and y directions. To delve
into the scattering mode of the metasurface array when subjected to electromagnetic wave incidence and to
assess its reduction efficacy in RCS, a simulation is performed on a perfectly electrically conducting (PEC) plate.
This PEC plate is designed to be comparable in size to the metasurface. The simulation results are presented in
Fig. 3a. Compared to the PEC, this array exhibits a more significant optimized RCS reduction effect, with the
reduction effect in the 13–20 GHz band being more than 10 dB. The materials used in the metasurface array
are flexible and transparent, making them suitable for special scenarios and states. Therefore, it is important
to investigate their bending and electromagnetic wave incident performance at different angles. Simulations
were carried out on metasurfaces and PEC. Incident EM waves were set at angles ε of 15° and 30° concerning
the surface normal. The simulation results, as shown in Fig. 3b, reveal that within a particular frequency range,
the reduction of the RCS surpasses 10 dB. Due to the flexibility inherent in the component materials, physical
samples are amenable to bending. When the metasurface is bent to a curvature α of 15° or 30° for simulation, it
is observed that the RCS reduction undergoes a significant change within the frequency band spanning from 12
to 25 GHz, as presented in Fig. 3c. The simulation results show that the 1-bit flexible coded metasurface array

Fig. 3. RCS scaling performance of the metasurface array under linearly polarized wave incidence (a) 1-bit
coded array optimized RCS scaling plot (b) RCS scaling plot of the array oblique incidence angle (c) RCS
scaling plot of the metasurface bending state (d) Metasurface bending schematic.

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has superior RCS reduction performance, and exhibits insensitivity to the plane wave incidence angle and the
curvature of the array.
The metasurface unit exhibits a more prominent linear polarization conversion effect. When circularly
polarized waves are incident, the coding unit has the same structural design. Accordingly, we employ CST
Microwave Studio to simulate circularly polarized waves incident on the metasurface, and the polarization
conversion results are presented in Fig. 4b. Regarding the design of the metasurface, the top layer of the ITO
design surface can rotate at any angle, and its polarization conversion ratio is 0.9 or above. The PB phase principle
involves adjusting the 360° (2π) phase by changing the rotation angle of the metasurface element under the
condition of circularly polarized wave incidence. The phase varies in direct proportion to the rotation angle,
with a proportionality factor of 2. By utilizing the PB phase, diverse phase distributions can be achieved solely
by rotating the top figure inside the metasurface. When the coordinate system is attached to the rotating ITO
conductive surface, a rotating system is created. In the ITO pattern rotation system, the rotational Doppler effect
gives rise to the rotational Doppler frequency shift and the subsequent geometric phase. These phenomena are
theoretically derived by equating Maxwell’s equations within the rotational coordinate system29.In this context,
Δω refers to the shift in angular frequency caused by the angular Doppler effect. Ωz indicates the rotational
angular velocity in relation to the dipole. Additionally, the symbol σ denotes left-circularly polarized (LCP)
and right-circularly polarized (RCP) waves. The rotation angular velocity of the coordinate system is converted
into the rotation velocity of the polarization ellipse, Ωz = d(τχ)/d(t), and Eq. 4 becomes Eq. 5, that is, the phase
principle of MPCM surface structure rotation. The reflected phase of MPCM is shown in Fig. 5c, changes over
the whole 2π range as the rotation angle of the top layer ITO wreath pattern of the cell structure gradually
changes. Therefore, it is reasonable to utilize the modulated metasurface array in the coding cell, and the PB
phase evolution can facilitate the design process of the coding cell surface. According to the above analysis of
Eqs. 2 and 3, the redistribution of reflected energy in the required direction needs to form different arrays, and
the appropriate selection of the coding phase gradient sequence can realize the beamforming in the far-field
direction.
γ = ∫ ∆ωdt = ∫ σΩz dt(4)
γ = 2στ χ = 2δχ(5)

Fig. 4. (a) Schematic diagram of ITO rotation binary coding (b) ITO polarization conversion ratio diagram
after rotation (c) ITO rotation Angle reflection phase diagram.

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Fig. 5. Y-direction 3-bit phase-coded metasurface (a) Schematic diagram of the coded array (d) far-field
radiation pattern of the metasurface array (g) beam pattern of the metasurface array. X-direction 3-bit phase-
coded metasurface (b) Schematic diagram of the coded array (e) far-field radiation pattern of the metasurface
array (h) beam pattern of the metasurface array. X-direction 4-bit phase-coded metasurface (c) Schematic
diagram of the coded array (f) far-field radiation pattern of the metasurface array (i) beam pattern of the
metasurface array.

In this work, the specific phase difference is obtained by rotating metasurface elements. The selection of a fixed
bit cell sequence with a certain linear phase difference can be fully utilized in the array design, and the effect
of beam steering is presented. The incident wave is assumed to be situated in the z = 0 plane, with the incident
wave vector denoted as ki and the reflected wave vector represented as kr. Equation 6 illustrates the relationship
between the local phase change of the array and the reflected wave vector, where k0 signifies the free space wave
number. By applying the phase matching condition, one can derive the relationship between the phase gradient
and the wave vector, as presented in Eq. 77. It is noted that if the metasurface introduces phase gradients solely
in the x-direction, where nr = ni = 1 is the refractive index of air, θi and θr are the incidence and reflection angles,
λ is the wavelength at the operating frequency. As summarized by Eqs. 8 and 9, the incident wave is vertically
incident, and θi = 0 and dϕ/dx is the phase gradient along the X-axis between adjacent cells30. When dϕ/dx or
dϕ/dy are properly designed, the EMW (Electromagnetic Wave) beam can be reflected at any angle. In this
part, the array design is carried out along the X/Y direction according to the phase difference Eq. 9, and 6 cells
are selected to form the 3-bit array and 12 cells to form the 4-bit array. While a 4-bit metasurface theoretically
supports 16 phase states, our design employs 12 unit cells with a π/6 phase interval, covering the full 2π range.
This configuration provides sufficient coding flexibility, surpassing the 8-state limit of 3-bit designs, thereby
maintaining the 4-bit classification. Similarly, a 3-bit array with a π/3 phase step uses 6 states, exceeding the
4-state constraint of 2-bit designs.
( ) ( )
ϕ (x, y) = x kxr − kxi − y kyr − kyi (6)
dϕ
= kxr − kxi = k0 sin (θr ) − k0 sin (θi )(7)
dx
2π λ dϕ
k0 = , nr sin (θr ) − ni sin (θi ) = (8)
λ 2π dx
λ dϕ
θi = 0, nr sin (θr ) = (9)
2π dx

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As shown in Fig. 4a, the elements of 4-bit encoding “0000”, “0001”, “1010”, and “1011” are designed according
to the phase difference of π/6 (30°). The commercial software CST is used to simulate the multi-bit coding array
of the designed metasurface. In the simulation, the left circularly polarized plane wave irradiation is used, and
open boundary conditions are used along all directions. The linear phase gradient along the Y-axis determines
the rotational element selection for array arrangement. As shown in Fig. 4c specifies the phase difference of the
different periodic arrays for adjacent units is specified in several linear combinations of the phase encoding
surface.
Figure 5a illustrates the structure of the π/3 phase difference beam steering metasurface oriented in the y
direction. In this configuration, cells with varying phases are systematically arranged along the Y-axis, while
identical unit cells are aligned along the X-axis. To enhance clarity regarding the reflection angle, far-field
simulation results are presented as depicted in Fig. 5d. Figure 5g shows a −50° reflection in the y-direction of
EMW, and Fig. 5h shows a 50° reflection in the x-direction of EMW. Figure 5c shows a π/6 phase difference beam
steering metasurface in the x-direction, and Fig. 5i shows that the EMW has a reflection of approximately −23°
in the x-direction.
Figure 6a depictes the simulated distribution of the electric field corresponding to beam steering at an angle
of θr = − 50° at 16 GHz. Conversely, Fig. 6b, c illustrate the simulated electric field distribution associated with
beam steering at an angle of θr = −23° at 16 GHz and θr = − 34° at 22 GHz. The beam deflection direction and
intensity are observed by the simulated normalized far-field image and 3D far-field scattering image, and the
beam with controllable angle in the range of − 50° to + 50° are obtained.
The beam deflection angle θr is controlled by the metasurface phase gradient dϕ/dx or dϕ/dy, with its principle
based on the generalized Snell’s law (Eqs. 6–9). The beam deflection angle θr can be determined through the
discretized phase gradient in Eq. 10, where D represents the adjacent unit spacing and Δϕ denotes the phase
difference between adjacent units. When the adjacent unit spacing D = 4 mm, phase difference Δϕ = π/6, and
operating frequency f = 16 GHz, the beam deflection angle is calculated as 23° using Eq. 10. Simulation results
show that when the phase gradient decreases from π/3 to π/6, the beam deflection angle correspondingly reduces
from 50° to 23°; when the operating frequency increases from 16 to 22 GHz, the deflection angle changes from
50° to 34° due to the variation in wavelength λ. So we can conclude that the simulation results are in agreement
with the generalized Snell reflection law.
( )
dϕ ∆ϕ λ
≈ , θr = arcsin ∆ϕ (10)
dx D 2πD

Measurements validation and simulation verification

We used magnetron sputtering technology to fabricate a 3-bit coded metasurface prototype composed of 24 × 24
meta-cells with an overall size of 96 × 96 mm2. Figure 7a shows a photo of ITO’s multi-bit coded metasurface,
and its physical object has 82% optical transmittance and excellent mechanical flexibility as shown in Fig. 7b. The
reflection spectra of metasurfaces are measured in a microwave anechoic chamber, and the far-field radiation
patterns of multi-bit phase metasurfaces with different functions are measured. The horn antenna is located at the
top of the microwave anechoic chamber and placed above metasurface (above after the calibration instrument)
to generate the incident plane wave and receive the reflected energy as shown in Fig. 7d.
Figure 8a displays the measured findings of the ITO metasurface beam radiation in the microwave anechoic
chamber, and this metasurface phase encoding sequence is the same as the y-direction depicted in Fig. 5a. The
experimental measurements reveal that at a frequency of 16 GHz, the beam points to −50°. This outcome is in
excellent agreement with the simulation results presented in Fig. 5g. Similarly, the measured results in Fig. 8b
show that the beam points to 50°. This finding aligns precisely with the results depicted in Fig. 5h. Therefore,
the deflection angle of the reflected beam can be effectively controlled. Consequently, it can be concluded that
the deflection angle of the reflected beam can be efficiently regulated. In terms of the frequency band range for

Fig. 6. Simulated electric field distribution. (a) The beam is reflected by 50° and (b) The beam is reflected by
23° (c) The beam is reflected by 34°

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Fig. 7. Physical object (a) Physical object diagram of the array (b) physical object transparency (c) Physical
diagram of the metasurface bending state (d) physical object test environment diagram.

Fig. 8. Comparison between simulation and measurement (a) test results of 3-bit array in Y-direction (b) test
results of 3-bit array in X-direction.

realizing functions and the overall structural performance, we compared our design with other metasurfaces
mentioned in the public literature in Table 1.
As summarized in Table 1, the proposed design has been comprehensively compared with existing approaches
in terms of materials and performance characteristics. Compared to the beam modulation designs reported in8,34,
our metasurface demonstrates superior flexibility, rendering it particularly suitable for conformal applications.
Furthermore, while the transparent flexible designs detailed in10,16,35–38 primarily focus on functionalities
such as polarization conversion and RCS reduction, the proposed architecture exhibits unique beam-steering
capabilities. Within the operational bandwidth, our metasurface achieves an exceptional beam-steering range
of ± 50°, surpassing the angular ranges reported in20,32,33. Our design has a wider beam control range, better
physical flexibility, and transparent performance.

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Ref Beam steering Flexible Transparent Materials Frequency(GHz)

8 − 40 to + 40 × √ Metal, F4B 9.1–10.9
10 × √ √ ITO, PVC 13.2–20.7
16 × × √ ITO, F4B 7.5–23.8
20 − 36 to + 36 × × Rogers4003C 13.5–15
31 + 13.5 to + 38 √ × Parylene-C 600–1600
32 − 41 to + 27 × × Rogers4350B 7.2–7.8
33 − 40 to + 40 × × Digital phase shifter 5.8, 10
34 − 38.2 to + 38.2 × √ ITO Films, PET 0.72–0.95
35 × √ √ ITO, PET, PVC 6.11–17.37
36 × √ √ ITO, PET 3.9–4.7
37 × √ √ ITO, PET 10.6–19.4
38 × √ √ ITO, PET 10–25
This work − 50 to + 50 √ √ ITO, PET, PVC 14.1–25

Table 1. Comparison of the proposed design and those in references.

Conclusion
In this study, an ITO-based phase metasurface element was proposed for beam-steering arrays operating with
circularly polarized waves. The material used in the metasurface element is flexible and transparent, with
an overall thickness of only 1.85 mm. The array test performance of the material shows that it can be well
applied to the field of transparent surfaces. By rotating the ITO top-layer pattern to control the phase gradient
between adjacent cells, we can manipulate electromagnetic waves and achieve different functions. According
to the principle of the PB phase, the phase response of metasurface elements is more regular and scattered
when circularly polarized waves are incident. Therefore, the concept of ITO phase metasurface coding can be
extended from 1-bit coding to 4-bit coding or higher, wherein 4-bit coded metasurfaces have more freedom in
controlling electromagnetic waves than 1-bit coded metasurfaces. In the 4-bit encoding, we need 12 unit cells
with phase increments of π/6 to simulate elements such as “0000”, “0001”, “0010”, “0011”, “0101”, “1011”, etc. In
this metasurface array, when the circularly polarized plane wave at 16 GHz is vertically incident, angle-specific
beam steering can be achieved, which is in full compliance with the generalized Snell reflection law.

Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reason-
able request. For details, please contact corresponding author Yu Zheng.

Received: 7 February 2025; Accepted: 22 April 2025

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Author contributions
Meijia Guo and Tian Liu proposed the main idea of this work. Meijia Guo did the major part of the work includ-
ing the design and simulation of the structure. Penghui Xin, Haoyuan Sun and Hengfeng Li participated in the
fabrication, measurement and analysis. Leonid F. Chernogor, and Zhejun Jin and Yu Zheng did the supervision,
technical guidance, editing and review.

Funding
National Key R&D plan strategic international science and Technology Cooperation and innovation (Grant No.
2018YFE0206500).

Declarations

Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.

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