7720 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 69, NO.

11, NOVEMBER 2021

Angular Memory of Photonic Metasurfaces

Constantinos Valagiannopoulos , Senior Member, IEEE, Adilkhan Sarsen, and Andrea Alù , Fellow, IEEE

Abstract— Nonlinear materials can exhibit bistability, namely the wave equation and solving it by imposing the dictated
support different possible outputs for the same input, depending boundary conditions. The boundary value problem of a single
on the excitation history. This property can find direct application nonlinear slab has been considered either as a Fabry–Perot
to photonic memory devices, the vast majority of which operate
by changing the amplitude of the incoming signals. In this work, interferometer with multivalued response [7], as a part of
we study impedance metasurfaces producing hysteresis responses bilayer configurations [8] or in terms of the supported local-
with respect to impinging beam angle by keeping a fixed intensity ized resonance modes [9], [10], typically with some help
profile; accordingly, the considered setups remember the history from elliptic integral functions. The same story holds for the
of illumination incidence. The reported findings may open new detection of surface polaritons propagating along the interfaces
unexplored avenues toward the design of photonic systems
supporting a wide range of fixed-power memory functionalities of optically nonlinear materials [11], where Maxwell’s equa-
from switching and sensing to information storage and data tions are solved in intensity-dependent media. Furthermore,
writing. electromagnetic scattering by nonlinear cylinders has been
Index Terms— Angular memory, directional bistability, Kerr investigated via efficient numerical discretization [12] and
nonlinearity, nonlinear metasurface. semi-analytical iterative approximations [13].
Structures that can be rigorously solved by considering
I. I NTRODUCTION similar boundary value problem formulations and, at the
same time, offer realistic opportunities for applications,
N ONLINEARITY is present in most materials as long
as the input excitation is high enough to activate their
natural saturation mechanisms. Therefore, textural properties
are nonlinear metasurfaces [14]. They literally constitute
a paradigm shift in photonic design since they allow,
of the photonic media are inevitably dependent on the intensity at a theoretically infinitesimal thickness, for functionalities
of the incoming electromagnetic fields. Bloembergen (Nobel such as wavelength conversion [15], giant second-harmonic
Prize in Physics, 1981) was among the first to systemati- generation [16], holography [17], and extreme wavevec-
cally formulate the driving principles behind nonlinear optics, tor selectivity [18]. Complete platforms based on nonlinear
revealing harmonic wave generation [1] and studying the metasurfaces for a wide range of applications have been
interaction of light with a nonlinear half-space [2], back in analytically developed [19], [20] and experimentally tested
the early 1960s. Since then, optical nonlinearities have been in photonic crystal configurations [21] to demonstrate con-
extensively scrutinized; accordingly, their properties and appli- trollable intensive focusing and ultrawide angular scanning.
cation potential have become common knowledge through The simplest type of nonlinearity considered in metasurface
multiple well-established textbooks focusing on the physical configurations is the so-called Kerr effect, based on which
concepts [3], on the device setups enabled by nonlinear the surface impedance or conductivity is proportional to the
optics [4] or even on the quantum mechanical origin of the squared amplitude of the local electric field. However, even
nonlinear coefficients [5]. A large part of the related bibli- this simplified model works well and captures successfully
ography is devoted to the propagation of light into nonlinear the basic wave interaction mechanisms in widely utilized
media giving rise to interesting effects like tailored dispersion setups like graphene nanoribbons [22] and gold quantum
and ultrafast solitons [6]. wells [23].
There are also several techniques available to study the It is apparent that linear Maxwell’s equations satisfy the
nonlinear properties of optical materials as incorporated in uniqueness theorem, but when nonlinearities are involved,
the solutions can routinely be multistable. That property
Manuscript received December 13, 2020; revised March 18, 2021; makes such Kerr-nonlinear metasurfaces operating effectively
accepted April 20, 2021. Date of publication June 2, 2021; date
of current version October 28, 2021. This work was supported as memory elements. The phase change appearing in com-
in part by the Nazarbayev University through the Faculty Devel- pound media has long been proposed for optical data stor-
opment Competitive Research Grant 021220FD4051 titled “Optimal age [24] and it is still extensively employed in ultrafast
Design of Photonic and Quantum Metamaterials.” (Corresponding author:
Constantinos Valagiannopoulos.) on-chip nanophotonic memory cells [25], [26]. Therefore,
Constantinos Valagiannopoulos and Adilkhan Sarsen are with the Depart- metasurfaces incorporating nonlinear materials can enable
ment of Physics, Nazarbayev University, 10000 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan reconfigurable memory based on various control mechanisms.
(e-mail: konstantinos.valagiannopoulos@nu.edu.kz).
Andrea Alù is with the Advanced Science Research Center, City University Importantly, the backbone of most optical memory elements is
of New York, New York, NY 10016 USA, and also with the Physics Program, the bistability effect, which is associated with the ability of the
Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY 10016 USA. structure to modify its output not only according to its current
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TAP.2021.3083806. input but also based on the previous input values [27]. This
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2021.3083806 hysteresis can occur in various metasurfaces characterized by
0018-926X © 2021 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
VALAGIANNOPOULOS et al.: ANGULAR MEMORY OF PHOTONIC METASURFACES 7721

Kerr nonlinearity, including acoustic [28] or thermal [29] com-

ponents for information processing but, primarily, in photonic
structures [30], [31] deployed for memory applications.
In this work, we consider a free-standing impedance
metasurface with Kerr-nonlinear admittance; the setup
is illuminated by an obliquely incident plane wave. The
formulated boundary value problem is rigorously treated;
accordingly, the transmissivity is calculated and found to
exhibit bistability with respect to the input power. Since the
structure supports an interaction that depends on the angle
of incidence, we discovered that the metasurface remembers
not only the amplitude of the incoming wave but also its
direction; such a functionality is demonstrated in realistic
nonlinear media excited by strong electromagnetic signals.
Due to the frequency-dependent effective surface conductivity,
we additionally report bistability, namely, memory of two bits
based on ON / OFF operation, with respect to the impinging
wavelength of the input beam. In this way, hysteresis loops
are predicted for the transmissivity while keeping constant
the illumination intensity; such a new property can be proved
beneficial for a variety of memory-related applications from
directional switching and fixed-power information storage to
angular sensing and energy-efficient data compression.
II. P ROBLEM F ORMULATION
A. Investigated Setup
The analyzed physical configuration is schematically
depicted in Fig. 1(a), where a Cartesian coordinate system
(x, y, z) is also defined. A homogeneous nonlinear meta-
surface (located at z = 0) with linear conductance γ and
nonlinear Kerr coefficient κ is characterized by its overall
surface conductivity σ written as
σ = σ (E) = i (γ + κ|E|2 ) (1) Fig. 1. (a) Schematic view of the considered setup. A Kerr-nonlinear
metasurface of admittance σ is illuminated by an obliquely incident plane
where E is the electric field at z = 0. We suppress a wave. For TM waves the electric field is parallel to x-axis and its vector
harmonic time dependency of the form exp(+i 2πct/λ), where perpendicular to the y z plane of incidence, and for TE waves the magnetic
√
c = 1/ ε0 μ0 is the speed of light, λ is the operating field is parallel to the x-axis and the electric field vector parallel to the y z plane
of incidence. (b) Typical hysteresis loop of the transmissivity τ with respect to
wavelength into vacuum and (ε0 , μ0 ) the free-space permittiv- the normalized input intensity E 02 (ON / OFF memory operation). (c) Indicative
ity and permeability, respectively. Alternatively, we can also time variations of input intensities in proportion to which bit they represent
consider a non-isotropic Kerr nonlinearity for the metasurface (0 or 1), which are also illustratively depicted in the sketch of Fig. 1(a).
conductivity σ , which is not affected by the total electric field
vector E like in (1) but only by its tangential component [32], being very frequently employed as excitation in similar
(ẑ × E); in other words metasurface setups [33]–[35].
It should be remarked that nonlocality, namely variation
σ = σ (E) = i (γ + κ|ẑ × E|2 ). (2)
of the setup properties with respect to the incident direction,
We assume κ ∈ R for brevity, while we may consider occurs in related setups and can lead to polarization-insensitive
complex γ ∈ C. If Re[γ ] > 0 the metasurface is of dielectric edge detection [36] and wavefront shaping at multiple wave-
type, while Re[γ ] < 0 describes a plasmonic structure; lengths independently [37]. Importantly, configurations with
furthermore, if Im[γ ] < 0, the metasurface is lossy (and excitation-regulated characteristics allow for optical signal
active in case Im[γ ] > 0, which we do not consider). The processing [38] and perfect control of reflection and refraction
setup is illuminated by a plane wave with either electric field [39]. However, in this work, we assume that the effective
parallel to x-axis (TM) or magnetic field parallel to x-axis conductance of the metasurface σ is not dependent on the
(TE), traveling along a direction forming an angle θ with z- incidence angle θ . Hence, the only nonlocal effect is intro-
axis, and electric field amplitude equal to E 0 . As it can be duced by the variation of the effective impedance with the
directly inferred from Fig. 1(a), the plane of incidence is the incidence angle, due to the change in the ratio of transverse
y z plane. Note that the results presented in this study can be electric and magnetic fields, and the corresponding inherited
easily generalized to elaborate more realistic, finite-aperture variations of induced fields at the metasurface.
excitations like Gaussian beams. Indeed, they can be expressed Due to symmetry, the transmitted field through the struc-
as integrals of plane waves based on paraxial approximation ture at z > 0, possesses an electric component Etran =
7722 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 69, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2021

x̂E 0 T exp[−i k0 (z cos θ + y sin θ )] for TM case and a magnetic further increased, the transmissivity is the one dictated by the
component Htran = x̂(E 0 /η0 )T exp[−i k0 (z cos θ + y sin θ )] lower branch of the solution; however, this trend cannot be
for TE case, where √ k0 = 2π/λ is the free-space wavenum- continued beyond E 02 = A2 Q max , where the system has no
ber and η0 = μ0 /ε0 the wave impedance into vacuum. alternative but to “jump” at the upper branch (blue arrow) and
The problem is treated by imposing the boundary condition stay there as long as E 02 > A2 Q max . The output of the system
for continuity of tangential electric components at z = 0 is not the same as the described one when the input ampli-
and the following inhomogeneous one incorporating the non- tude decreases back yielding a hysteresis effect [40]. Indeed,
linear conductivity of the metasurface: the response has no reason to abandon the upper branch at
  E 02 = A2 Q max while E 02 is being reduced; such a thing will
ẑ × Htran − Hre f − Hinc z=0
inevitably happen only at E 02 = A2 Q min for which the system
= −σ (E) ẑ × [ẑ × Etran ]|z=0 (3) has no choice but to “jump” to the lower branch (red arrow).
Note that, regardless of the history of E 0 (t), the intermediate
where {Einc , Hinc } is the incident electromagnetic field.
branch of the curve is not accessible; thus, it is called an
In the simplest case of normal incidence (θ = 0) and for a
unstable solution. In other words, the considered setup has
lossless metasurface (Im[γ ] = 0, γ ∈ R), separation of real
only two stable solutions and that is why the reported S-curve
from imaginary parts in (3), leads to
characteristic indicates the presence of bistability. As noted
4 [10], when the metasurface is posed into two half-spaces
Re[T ] = (4)
4 + (γ η0 + τ κη0 E 02 )2 without textural contrast (both vacuum half-spaces), bistability
is possible only if the system can switch its nature from
2(γ η0 + τ κη0 E 02 ) dielectric (Im[σ ] > 0) to plasmonic (Im[σ ] < 0) or vice-
Im[T ] = − (5)
4 + (γ η0 + τ κη0 E 02 )2 versa and back; this transition becomes feasible, in turn, only
where τ ≡ |T |2 is the transmissivity of the metasurface. Since if κ < 0 (for Re[γ ] > 0). Such a condition is approximately
τ = Re2 [T ]+Im2 [T ], the following relation for transmissivity equivalent to a nonlinear metasurface impedance 1/σ with a
is found: positive Kerr coefficient.
  The memory operation is also demonstrated by Fig. 1(b),
τ 4 + (γ η0 + τ κη0 E 02 )2 − 4 ≡ G(τ ) = 0. (6) where the transmissivity can be either τ0 (OFF) or τ1 (ON) at
the same incident power E 02 = A2 depending on its time vari-
B. Basic Concepts ation E 02 (t) before the considered point, namely, its increasing
or decreasing trend to reach the current intensity level, in
Equations like (6) can support one, two, or three acceptable accordance with the description above. In this way, with the
solutions 0 < τ < 1 judging from what is the input intensity same input, we can have two different τ ’s corresponding to
E 02 . If we consider a reference intensity level A2 , a typical
different bit waveforms as depicted in Fig. 1(c). In particular,
graph for transmissivity τ , as a function of E 02 /A2 , is shown for bit √1 (blue curve), the amplitude E 0 overshoots the
in Fig. 1(b). One can easily find the transmissivities τ∓ level A Q max and then falls at the predetermined constant
corresponding to the critical points of the function G(τ ) as value A with the metasurface transmittance equaling τ1 . On the
follows: contrary, for bit 0 (red color), the incident intensity increases

2γ (γ η0 )2 − 12 from a low value to A2 without surpassing the limit E 02 /A2 =
τ∓ = − ∓ (7)
3κ E 02 3|κ|η0 E 02 Q max ; therefore, it forces the system to transmit at τ0 level.
√ In this sense, the metasurface under the same illumination
which are positive only if γ κ < 0 and |γ η0 | > 12. Given power A2 gives different responses (τ1 or τ0 ), judging from
the fact that 0 < τ− < τ+ , one may readily determine the history of the excitation. Therefore, as indicated in the
the Q max by solving G(τ− ) = 0 with respect to E 02 and schematic of Fig. 1(a), the 2-D structure, when fed by the
Q min by solving G(τ+ ) = 0 with respect to E 02 , both shown field with E 0 = A, can be separated into pixels each of
in Fig. 1(b). Obviously, (6) has a unique positive root for which can transmit a different bit determined by the previous
0 < E 02 < A2 Q min and for E 02 > A2 Q max . However, for values E 0 (t).
Q min < E 02 /A2 < Q max , it has three solutions, namely
the system supports three distinct transmissivity values if
illuminated by a wave with specific intensity E 02 , belonging III. P HOTONIC A NGULAR M EMORY
to the interval above. In this case, the nonlinear metasurface
A. Analytical Formulation
assumes one of the three available states τ not only based on
the current value of the input but also on how the incident Up to this point, we introduced the effect of bistability and
field magnitude changed at prior times before reaching that its usefulness in memory applications when occurring with
level E 0 . This is why the S-shaped characteristic of Fig. 1(b) respect to incoming intensity E 02 . Let us consider the case
is indispensable for most memory elements; the output of the of oblique incidence in an attempt to obtain the correspond-
system remembers the past of its input. ing cubic relations analogous to (6) supporting bistability,
The arrows along the curve of Fig. 1(b) demonstrate the with respect to the incoming angle θ . In the scenario of
memory effect, namely the ON / OFF operation of the nonlinear TM excitation and admittance σ given by (1), we have for the
element. When the feeding intensity E 02 /A2 increases from electric field at z = 0 that: |E|2 = |Etran |2 = |T |2 E 02 ≡ τ E 02 .
zero to Q min , the system has a unique response. If E 02 gets Once more, if one takes (3) and separates real from imaginary
VALAGIANNOPOULOS et al.: ANGULAR MEMORY OF PHOTONIC METASURFACES 7723

hysteresis loops arise not in terms of the input intensity E 02 but

as functions of the past values of the incidence direction θ (t).
In other words, the transmission changes in proportion to what
is the prior direction of the incoming illumination without
modifying its amplitude; therefore, memory devices with their
information hidden into the angle of incidence can be modeled
with use of the examined setup. One may regard the bistability
of Fig. 2(a) and (b) as an outcome of the electric field as “seen”
Fig. 2. Transmissivity τ = |T |2 through a free-standing metasurface as by the structure; thus, indirectly, hysteresis is also exhibited
function of incidence angle θ of a TM wave (Einc  x̂) for (a) several Kerr due to varying intensity of the local electric field induced in
nonlinearity coefficients κη0 E 02 = −15, −17, −19, −21 (Im[γ η0 ] = −0.4)
and (b) several linear loss levels Im[γ η0 ] = −0.1, −1, −2 (κη0 E 02 = −17). the metasurface.
Reactive part of linear conductivity: Re[γ η0 ] = 7. The Kerr arrow shows In Fig. 2(a), we demonstrate controllability of the hysteresis
towards less nonlinear structures, namely towards larger Kerr coefficient since loop by changing the Kerr nonlinearity coefficient |κ < 0|.
it is taken as negative. The loss arrow shows towards more lossy structures.
We note that, for the specific choice of complex-linear
parts, the following formulas are educed: conductance γ , the more nonlinear the structure gets,
the less θ -extensive is the bistability circle possessing weaker
2 cos θ (2 cos θ − Im[γ η0 ]) upper-branch transmissivity. It is also remarked that τ vanishes
Re[T ] =   2 (8)
Im [γ η0 ] + Re[γ η0 ] + τ κη0 E 02
2 at grazing angles θ → ±90◦ and the graphs are symmetric
−4Im[γ η0 ] cos θ + 4 cos2 θ from both sides of θ = 0, as anticipated. In Fig. 2(b),
  we increase the losses |Im[γ ]| of the linear part of our metasur-
2 cos θ Re[γ η0 ] + τ κη0 E 02
Im[T ] = −   2 . (9) face and we remark that the upper branch in S-curve becomes
Im2 [γ η0 ] + Re[γ η0 ] + τ κη0 E 02 less flat and with the larger maximal transmission. It should be
−4Im[γ η0 ] cos θ + 4 cos2 θ stressed that for θ > 0, the curves in Fig. 2 have the opposite
Obviously, the relations (8), (9) degenerate to (4), (5) shape than the classical one of Fig. 1(b); indeed, if the same
for normal incidence (θ = 0) and lossless metasurface memory-in-transmission concept is applied, we will obtain
(Im[γ ] = 0). By using the identity Re2 [T ]+Im2 [T ] = τ again, τ1 < τ0 which makes no difference.
we derive the condition (10), as shown at the bottom of the
next page for 0 < τ < 1. Similar algebraic steps yield to the C. TE Cases
corresponding conditions for TE waves with surface conduc- In Fig. 3, we investigate the same nonlinear metasurface but
tance given by (1) (see formula (11), as shown at the bottom excited by TE waves (Hinc  x̂). Bistability effects also arise
of the next page) and for TE waves with surface conductance with the difference is that, at grazing angle, we obtain full
given by (2) (see formula (12), as shown at the bottom transmission as a result of zero material contrast for z > 0
of the next page). All these (10)–(12) are cubic polyno- and z < 0 (lim|θ |→90◦ τ = 1). This time increased nonlinearity
mials with respect to transmissivity 0 < τ < 1, being |κ < 0| [see Fig. 3(a)] stretches the θ -range of the hysteresis
bounded for passive structures; it is also apparent and natural loop (Q max − Q min ) with reference to Fig. 1(b). Furthermore,
that (10)–(12) yield to (6) for θ = 0 and γ ∈ R. Finally, the increased losses |Im[γ ] < 0|, whose influence is shown
by inspection of (10)–(12), it is clear that angle θ is present in in Fig. 3(b), have a similar effect compared to that of Fig. 2(b);
all of them since the quantity cos θ appears every time that the the overlapping of S-curve gets milder.
operator ẑ × {A}, that keeps the tangential to the metasurface To this end, we examine the anisotropic model for our meta-
component, is applied to a vector A. surface with an admittance given by (2), dependent only on
the tangential electric component; it is a scenario compatible
B. TM Case with the 2-D nature of the nonlinear element (at z = 0). Such
a choice does not make any difference in terms of TM inci-
Based on the previous arguments, the hysteresis loop show- dence, as expected. However, for TE polarization the response
cased in Fig. 1(b) that is based on bistability and occurred due changes, yielding to the results of Fig. 3(c) and (d), where
to nonlinearity, is the cornerstone of most photonic memory (Q max −Q min ) is more significant. Most importantly, the spread
elements. As discussed above, the S-curve features do not nec- between the output for the two bits |τ1 − τ0 | gets larger since
essarily arise only as functions of the input intensity. Indeed, the maximum of the curves appears within the hysteresis loop;
as indicated by (10)–(12), bistability is possible when varying such a feature renders the information transmission link less
other features of the incident beam such as the incoming vulnerable to noise. Finally, the reduction of losses |Im[γ ]|
direction θ . is found to have an amplifying influence on the transmission
In Fig. 2, we present the transmissivity τ = |T |2 for various [see Fig. 3(d)].
incidence angles θ at TM polarization (Einc  x̂), assuming that
the surface impedance is not affected by the incidence angle. IV. ACTUAL M EDIA
Each root of the aforementioned cubic polynomial (10) with
respect to τ > 0 is shown with a different color; red denotes A. Slab-Metasurface Analogy
the unstable branch, green the lower stable one and blue the All the previous examples refer to a 2-D structure with
upper stable one. We observe that in both Fig. 2(a) and (b), specified surface conductivity σ ; it is, therefore, meaningful
7724 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 69, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2021

Fig. 3. Transmissivity τ = |T |2 through a free-standing metasurface as

function of incidence angle θ of a TE wave (Hinc  x̂) for (a) several Kerr
nonlinearity coefficients κη0 E 02 = −9.76, −9.46, −9.16, −8.86 (Im[γ η0 ] =
−0.4) with model (1), (b) several loss levels Im[γ η0 ] = −0.45, −0.55, −0.65
(κη0 E 02 = −9.2) with model (1), (c) several Kerr nonlinearity coefficients Fig. 4. Transmissivity τ = |T |2 through a free-standing metasurface as
κη0 E 02 = −16, −17, −18, −19 (Im[γ η0 ] = −0.2) with model (2), and function of incidence angle θ for metasurfaces emulated by thin slabs from
(d) several linear loss levels Im[γ η0 ] = −0.1, −0.2, −0.4 (κη0 E 02 = −16.4) various materials (GaAs, CdTe, CdS) for (a) TM waves (GaAs: d = 100 nm,
with model (2). Reactive part of linear conductivity: Re[γ η0 ] = 7. E 0 = 5.9 GV/m. CdTe: d = 150 nm, E 0 = 4.8 GV/m. CdS: d = 200 nm,
E 0 = 3.2 GV/m.), (b) TE waves with metasurface admittance following
model (1) (GaAs: d = 130 nm, E 0 = 3.3 GV/m. CdTe: d = 130 nm,
to examine what actual materials and under what excitation E 0 = 3.5 GV/m. CdS: d = 200 nm, E 0 = 2.1 GV/m.), and (c) TE waves
power can lead to similar effects as these reported above, just with metasurface admittance following model (2) (GaAs: d = 100 nm,
E 0 = 5.2 GV/m. CdTe: d = 150 nm, E 0 = 5.2 GV/m. CdS: d = 200 nm,
by using simple realistic 3-D structures [41]. Let us consider a E 0 = 2.8 GV/m.). Operational wavelength: λ = 1 μm.
timely oscillating electric field with wavelength λ of complex
phasor E, exciting a Kerr nonlinear bulk medium. We can media (like GaAs, CdTe, CdS) are well-known from reliable
deduce the following expression [14] for the relative permit- sources [43]–[45]. As far as the nonlinear parameters (κ) are
tivity ε, by ignoring higher-order terms developed through the concerned, they are also taken from well-established studies
molecules polarization: [46] and experimental works [47] with use of suitable conver-
3 sion relations [48], [49].
ε∼
= 1 + χ (1) + χ (3) |E|2 (13) It should be remarked that we deliberately choose to mimic
4
the metasurface’s macroscopic properties in the simplest pos-
where χ (1) is the linear susceptibility and χ (3) the third-order sible way, namely by employing a thin slab (thickness d λ)
nonlinear one. It has been also shown [42] that the interaction filled with the picked nonlinear substance and approximately
of a thin slab of size d λ with the background fields, can giving the surface conductivities of (14), (15). An alternative
be approximated if one uses instead a complex surface con- way to achieve a similar nonlinear response with lower incom-
ductivity σ given by: σ η0 ∼= 2πi dλ (ε − 1). When substituting ing intensity E 02 would be to consider periodically located
this expression in (13), one obtains the equivalent parameters nonlinear particles that are exploiting their interactions to
(γ , κ) appeared in the metasurface geometry of Fig. 1(a) boost the collective nonlinearity [50]. Such an approach has
2π d been followed in numerous configurations such as slits of
γ ∼
= χ (1) (14) Kerr media hosted in a dielectric slab [51], nanodisks coupled
η0 λ with rectangular bars [52] or buses [53] and nonlinear silicon
3π d
κ ∼
= χ (3) . (15) oligomers deposited on oxide substrates [54].
2η0 λ
In the following, we have picked certain materials that B. Directional Bistability
possess significant and plasmonic (negative) Kerr coefficients In Fig. 4, we use the formulas (14), (15) and utilize the
combined with low losses. The linear data (γ) of insulating aforementioned nonlinear materials (GaAs, CdTe, CdS) that

 2
τ 4 cos2 θ + Im2 [γ η0 ] + Re[γ η0 ] + τ κη0 E 02 − 4Im[γ η0 ] cos θ = 4 cos2 θ (10)
   2  
τ 4 + cos θ cos θ Im2 [γ η0 ] + Re[γ η0 ] + τ κη0 E 02 − 4Im[γ η0 ] = 4 (11)
   2  
τ 4 + cos θ cos θ Im2 [γ η0 ] + Re[γ η0 ] + τ κη0 E 02 cos2 θ − 4Im[γ η0 ] = 4 (12)
VALAGIANNOPOULOS et al.: ANGULAR MEMORY OF PHOTONIC METASURFACES 7725

fill thin parallelepiped volumes and play the role of photonic

metasurfaces of Fig. 1(a). The transmissivity τ = |T |2 is
represented as a function of incidence angle θ and in Fig. 4(a),
TM waves are considered. It is clear that all the regarded
media, as long as the intensity of the input fields E 02 is high
enough to activate the nonlinearity, exhibit strong bistability
similar to the 2-D materials with the fictitious effective para-
meters of Fig. 2. In particular, CdTe gives the most efficient
memory curves since the difference between the transmission
for the two bits |τ1 − τ0 | is substantial and present for a sig-
nificant sector of incoming directions θ , yielding to huge hys-
teresis loops. On the other hand, the bistability in CdS-based
designs appears for a short range of oblique angles θ admitting
the related setups to work as sharp sensors for specific incident
directions of the primary excitations. Finally, the configuration
employing GaAs has low transmissivity for both modes of
operation, an indication of substantial reflections that give
rise to a restricted hysteresis cycle and create problems in
detection.
In Fig. 4(b), we assume TE illumination and metasurfaces Fig. 5. Transmissivity τ = |T |2 through a free-standing metasurface as
following the effective surface conductivity model referring function of operational wavelength λ for metasurfaces emulated by thin slabs
to Kerr-type nonlinearity (1) determined by the total electric from various materials (GaAs, CdTe, CdS) for (a) TM waves (GaAs: d =
130 nm, E 0 = 3.20 GV/m. CdTe: d = 240 nm, E 0 = 3.25 GV/m. CdS:
field magnitude |E|. One directly observes the similarity of the d = 350 nm, E 0 = 2.16 GV/m.), (b) TE waves with metasurface admittance
obtained transmissivity curves with those of Fig. 3(a) and (b). following model (1) (GaAs: d = 250 nm, E 0 = 3.40 GV/m. CdTe: d =
For that specific selection of thicknesses d and intensities E 02 , 240 nm, E 0 = 3.58 GV/m. CdS: d = 380 nm, E 0 = 2.32 GV/m.), and (c) TE
waves with metasurface admittance following model (2) (GaAs: d = 250 nm,
the most successful design is the one made of GaAs, where E 0 = 3.90 GV/m. CdTe: d = 240 nm, E 0 = 4.08 GV/m. CdS: d = 390 nm,
the ON / OFF (τ1 → 1) operation is thoroughly demonstrated. E 0 = 2.70 GV/m.). Incidence direction: θ = 30◦ .
In addition, the metasurface filled by CdTe can work well in
a photonic angular memory system with θ = θ (t), since the C. Wavelength Bistability
angles at which the “jumps” occur are found quite different
from each other. On the contrary, the CdS layout gives a By inspection of (14), (15), it is clear that, apart from the
tiny hysteresis loop that can possibly serve well as a unidi- potential dispersion χ (1) = χ (1) (λ), χ (3) = χ (3) (λ) of the
rectional detector. Once the alternative surface conductance material texture, which is ignored here, both conductance para-
model (2) is employed (Fig. 4(c), taking into account only meters are dependent on operational wavelength λ. Obviously,
the tangential electric component |ẑ × E|), the curves bear in the dc limit (λ → ∞), the transmission will be unitary
a resemblance with those in Fig. 3(c) and (d). It is shown (τ → 1) since both γ and κ vanish. However, at higher
that the nonlinear effects are not that strong in the CdS slab; frequencies, the conditions for bistability with respect to
thus, the unstable branch that formulates the memory property, wavelengths at a fixed incoming direction can be fulfilled
is absent. However, it is noteworthy that both the responses even when disregarding Fabry–Perot interference. In Fig. 5,
of GaAs and CdTe-based configurations exhibit significant we represent the transmissivity τ = |T |2 of the metasurface
bistability that makes them remember the past excitation as a function of λ for the three considered media. In Fig. 5(a),
directions. we assume excitation by oblique TM waves and identify that
One may point out that the intensities required to accom- at a constant angle θ , the proposed slabs can remember the
plish directional bistability are quite high and even though central modulation wavelength of the input signal λ = λ(t)
they have been achieved to activate the extremely low from the past. More specifically, significant bistability
third-order susceptibility of graphene [55], [56], their exper- appeared at mid-infrared for GaAs designs while the effect
imental realization can be challenging. Alternatively, sim- is much milder for CdTe slabs and practically absent when
ilar levels to the required plasmonic nonlinearity can be utilizing CdS metasurfaces.
emulated for much weaker incident beams in case one In Fig. 5(b), we examine TE fields by assuming that
exploits coupling to intersubband transitions [16] or the the nonlinearity is proportional to the total electric field
electrooptic effect in multiple-quantum-well heterostructures magnitude |E| and find that the considered GaAs slab supports
[57]. In particular, hybrid Mie-guided mode resonances a large hysteresis loop with wavelength memory, which also
have been found capable of achieving high second-harmonic emerges for the other polarization in Fig. 5(a). Similarly, in the
conversion efficiency in the visible spectrum [58]. Sim- case of CdS flakes the bistability is very weak while for CdTe
ilarly, dielectric nanocylinders and etched arrow-shaped setups the ON / OFF operation occurs at shorter wavelengths.
nanoresonators can activate nonlinear saturation mecha- In Fig. 5(c), we repeat the same considerations but for the
nisms [59] and develop or even manipulate signals of higher alternative surface admittance dependent on |ẑ × E| and
harmonics [60]. the responses are similar to those of Fig. 5(b); this is an
7726 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 69, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2021

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[32] C. A. Valagiannopoulos, “Electromagnetic absorption of Gaussian [58] K.-C. Shen et al., “Giant efficiency of visible second-harmonic light by
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[36] H. Kwon, A. Cordaro, D. Sounas, A. Polman, and A. Alù, “Dual- J. D. Joannopoulos, “Nonlinear harmonic generation and devices in
polarization analog 2D image processing with nonlocal metasurfaces,” doubly-resonant Kerr cavities,” US Patent 8 045 257 B2, Oct. 25, 2011.
ACS Photon., vol. 7, no. 7, pp. 1799–1805, Jul. 2020. [63] W. Weng et al., “Spectral purification of microwave signals with
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[38] H. Kwon, D. Sounas, A. Cordaro, A. Polman, and A. Alù, “Nonlocal
metasurfaces for optical signal processing,” Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 121,
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[39] V. S. Asadchy, M. Albooyeh, S. N. Tcvetkova, A. Díaz-Rubio, Y. Ra’di, Constantinos Valagiannopoulos (Senior Member,
and S. A. Tretyakov, “Perfect control of reflection and refraction IEEE) was born in Athens, Greece, in 1982.
using spatially dispersive metasurfaces,” Phys. Rev. B, Condens. Matter, He received the Dipl.Eng. degree (Hons.) in electri-
vol. 94, no. 7, Aug. 2016, Art. no. 075142. cal engineering and the Ph.D. degree in electromag-
[40] C. Valagiannopoulos and V. Kovanis, “Injection-locked photonic oscil- netic theory from the National Technical University
lators: Legacy results and future applications,” IEEE Antennas Propag. of Athens (NTUA), Athens, in 2004 and 2009,
Mag., early access, Oct. 26, 2020, doi: 10.1109/MAP.2020.3021391. respectively.
[41] D. Ramaccia, D. L. Sounas, A. V. Marini, A. Toscano, and F. Bilotti, From 2010 to 2014, he was a Post-Doctoral
“Electromagnetic isolation induced by time-varying metasurfaces: Non- Researcher with the Group of Theoretical and
reciprocal Bragg grating,” IEEE Antennas Wireless Propag. Lett., vol. 19, Applied Electromagnetics of Complex Media,
no. 11, pp. 1886–1890, Nov. 2020. Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering,
[42] S. Tretyakov, Analytical Modeling in Applied Electromagnetics. London, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland (advisor: Sergei Tretyakov). From 2014 to
U.K: Artech House, 2003. 2015, he was with the Laboratory of Metamaterials and Plasmonics, Depart-
[43] S. Adachi, “Optical dispersion relations for GaP, GaAs, GaSb, InP, InAs, ment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at
InSb, Alx Ga1 − xAs, and In1 − xGax As y P1 − y,” J. Appl. Phys., vol. 66, Austin, Austin, TX, USA, (advisor: Andrea Alù). Since 2015, he has been an
pp. 6030–6040, Dec. 1989. Assistant with Nazarbayev University (NU), Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, at which
[44] S. Adachi, T. Kimura, and N. Suzuki, “Optical properties of CdTe: he is an Associate Professor since 2018 with the Department of Physics.
Experiment and modeling,” J. Appl. Phys., vol. 74, no. 5, pp. 3435–3441, He leads the Metamaterials Modeling and Design Group, NU, performing
Sep. 1993. research on the forward and inverse design of photonic devices manipulating
[45] S. Ninomiya and S. Adachi, “Optical properties of wurtzite CdS,” the light as well as on the translation of electromagnetic concepts into
J. Appl. Phys., vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 1183–1190, Jul. 1995. quantum systems. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 works
[46] J. Zyss, Molecular Nonlinear Optics: Materials, Physics, and Devices. published at international refereed scientific journals and presented numerous
Boston, MA, USA: Academic, 1994. reports in scientific conferences. He has been participating as a Principal
[47] M. Sheik-Bahae, D. C. Hutchings, D. J. Hagan, and E. W. Van Stryland, Investigator (PI) or a Co-PI in the successful execution of national and
“Dispersion of bound electron nonlinear refraction in solids,” IEEE J. international research grants with total budget surpassing 3M USD.
Quantum Electron., vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 1296–1309, Jun. 1991. Dr. Valagiannopoulos received the Inaugural 2015 Journal of Optics (JOPT)
[48] R. del Coso and J. Solis, “Relation between nonlinear refractive index Research Excellence Award for his work: “Perfect absorption in graphene
and third-order susceptibility in absorbing media,” J. Opt. Soc. Amer. B, multilayers,” while being Senior Member of URSI, and OSA. He also received
Opt. Phys., vol. 21, pp. 640–644, Mar. 2004. the International Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation Prize for the Best Doctoral
[49] B. Jin, T. Guo, and C. Argyropoulos, “Enhanced third harmonic gener- Thesis in 2008, the NTUA Thomaidis Ph.D. Thesis Award in 2008, and the
ation with graphene metasurfaces,” J. Opt., vol. 19, no. 9, Sep. 2017, Academy of Finland Postdoctoral Grant from 2012 to 2015. He has won
Art. no. 094005. the Newton Al-Farabi Researcher Links Travel Grant for 2017 and has been
[50] M. Kauranen and A. V. Zayats, “Nonlinear plasmonics,” Nature Photon., the Winner of the 2020 NU Teaching Award for Integrating Research and
vol. 6, pp. 737–748, Nov. 2012. Teaching. He was a Guest Editor of Photonics (MDPI) for a special issue,
[51] C. Argyropoulos, P.-Y. Chen, G. D’Aguanno, N. Engheta, and including selected articles presented at 2019 Metamaterials Congress.
A. Alù, “Boosting optical nonlinearities in -near-zero plasmonic chan-
nels,” Phys. Rev. B, Condens. Matter, vol. 85, no. 4, Jan. 2012,
Art. no. 045129.
[52] Y. Yang et al., “Nonlinear Fano-resonant dielectric metasurfaces,” Nano Adilkhan Sarsen was born in Uralsk, Kazakhstan,
Lett., vol. 15, pp. 7388–7393, Nov. 2015. in 1999. He graduated (Hons.) from the Depart-
[53] O. Tsilipakos and E. E. Kriezis, “Optical bistability with hybrid silicon- ment of Physics, Nazarbayev University (NU), Nur-
plasmonic disk resonators,” J. Opt. Soc. Amer. B, Opt. Phys., vol. 31, Sultan, Kazakhstan, in 2020. He has performed
pp. 1698–1702, Jul. 2014. undergraduate research at the Metamaterials Mod-
[54] M. R. Shcherbakov et al., “Nonlinear interference and tailorable third- eling and Design Group, NU. His diploma the-
harmonic generation from dielectric oligomers,” ACS Photon., vol. 2, sis is entitled “Linear and nonlinear metasurfaces
no. 5, pp. 578–582, May 2015. for polarization conversion and angular bistability”
[55] N. Kumar et al., “Third harmonic generation in graphene and few- and has been supervised by Prof. Constantinos
layer graphite films,” Phys. Rev. B, Condens. Matter, vol. 87, no. 12, Valagiannopoulos.
Mar. 2013, Art. no. 121406(R). After his junior year, he interned at the Advanced
[56] S.-Y. Hong, J. I. Dadap, N. Petrone, P.-C. Yeh, J. Hone, and Science Research Center, City University of New York (CUNY ASRC),
R. M. Osgood, “Optical third-harmonic generation in graphene,” Phys. New York, NY, USA, under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Alù. His research
Rev. X, vol. 3, no. 2, Jun. 2013, Art. no. 021014. interests include signal processing, artificial intelligence, and their applications
[57] P. C. Wu et al., “Dynamic beam steering with all-dielectric electro-optic in photonic structures like metamaterials.
III–V multiple-quantum-well metasurfaces,” Nature Commun., vol. 10, Mr. Sarsen was the Bronze Medalist of the 2016 International Physics
no. 1, p. 3654, Dec. 2019. Olympiad held in Zurich, Switzerland.
7728 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, VOL. 69, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2021

Andrea Alù (Fellow, IEEE) received the Laurea, and 2010, the NSF CAREER Award in 2010, the AFOSR and the DTRA 1
M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Young Investigator Awards in 2010 and 2011, the URSI Isaac Koga Gold 2
Rome Tre, Rome, Italy, in 2001, 2003, and 2007, Medal in 2011, the SPIE Early Career Investigator Award in 2012, the OSA 3
respectively. Adolph Lomb Medal in 2013, the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics 4
He did his post-doctoral research at the University in 2013, the Franco Strazzabosco Award for Young Engineers in 2013, 5
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. In 2009, the IEEE MTT Outstanding Young Engineer Award in 2014, the NSF 6
he joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Alan T. Waterman Award in 2015, the ICO Prize in Optics in 2016, 7
Austin, Austin, TX, USA, where he was the Temple the inaugural MDPI Materials Young Investigator Award in 2016, the Kavli 8
Foundation Endowed Professor until 2018. In 2015, Foundation Early Career Lectureship in Materials Science in 2016, the inau- 9
he was with the Royal Netherlands Academy of gural ACS Photonics Young Investigator Award Lectureship in 2016, the Edith 10
Arts and Sciences (KNAW) Visiting Professor of and Peter O’Donnell Award in Engineering in 2016, the IUMRS Young 11
the AMOLF Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is currently the Researcher Award in 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD) Vannevar 12
Founding Director of the photonics initiative with the Advanced Science Bush Faculty Fellowship in 2019, and the IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award 13
Research Center, City University of New York (CUNY ASRC), New York, in 2020. His students have also received several awards, including student 14
NY, USA. He is also the Einstein Professor of physics with the CUNY paper awards at the IEEE Antennas and Propagation and URSI Symposia. 15
Graduate Center, a Professor of electrical engineering with The City College He has organized and chaired various international symposia and conferences, 16
of New York, New York, and an Adjunct Professor and a Senior Research including several of the Metamaterials conference series, and has been the 17
Scientist of the University of Texas at Austin. He is the coauthor of more than Technical Program Chair of several conferences, including the IEEE AP-S 18
550 journal articles and 35 book chapters. His current research interests Symposium in 2016. He has served as an Associate Editor for Materials 19
include metamaterials and plasmonics, electromagnetics, optics and nanopho- (MDPI), the IEEE A NTENNAS AND W IRELESS P ROPAGATION L ETTERS , 20
tonics, acoustics, scattering, nanocircuits and nanostructures, miniaturized Scientific Reports, Metamaterials, Advanced Electromagnetics, and Optics 21
antennas and nanoantennas, and RF antennas and circuits. Express. He has guest edited Special Issues of the IEEE J OURNAL OF 22
Dr. Alù has been serving as the President for the Metamorphose Virtual S ELECTED T OPICS IN Q UANTUM E LECTRONICS , P ROCEEDINGS OF THE 23
Institute for Artificial Electromagnetic Materials and Metamaterials and a IEEE (twice), the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON A NTENNAS AND P ROPA - 24
member for the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Antennas and Prop- GATION , the IEEE A NTENNAS AND W IRELESS P ROPAGATION L ETTERS 25
agation Society. He has been an OSA Traveling Lecturer since 2010, an (twice), Nanophotonics, Journal of Optics, Journal of the Optical Society 26
IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer since 2014 and the IEEE Joint AP-S and of America A, Journal of the Optical Society of America B, Photonics and 27
MTT-S Chapter for Central Texas. He has been a Simons Investigator in Nanostructures: Fundamentals and Applications, Optics Communications, 28
physics since 2016 and the Director of the Simons Collaboration on Extreme Metamaterials, and Sensors on a variety of topics involving metamaterials, 29
Wave Phenomena since 2020. He is a Full Member of URSI, a fellow of plasmonics, optics, and electromagnetic theory. He is an Associate Editor of 30
NAI, AAAS, OSA, SPIE, and APS, and a Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate Applied Physics Letters and serves on the Editorial Board of Physical Review 31
Web of Science) since 2017. Over the last few years, he has received several B, Advanced Optical Materials, Laser and Photonics Reviews, New Journal 32
awards for his research activities, including the Young Scientist Awards from of Physics, Reviews of Electromagnetics, EPJ Applied Metamaterials, and 33
URSI General Assembly in 2005, and URSI Commission B in 2004, 2007, Metamaterials (ISTE). 34