Novel functionalities enabled by asymmetric reconfiguration in VO2-dielectric metasurfaces
Abstract
Bianisotropic metasurfaces provide electromagnetic functionalities that cannot be achieved through electric and magnetic responses alone, enabling asymmetric scattering, directional absorption, and advanced wavefront control. At optical frequencies, however, most demonstrations rely on static nanostructures whose magnetoelectric response is fixed after fabrication. Here, we investigate the opportunities enabled by dynamic reconfiguration of electromagnetic bianisotropy using a thermally tunable silicon--VO2 metasurface operating in the near-infrared. By combining a collective-polarizability framework with numerical simulations and experimental characterization, we show that the insulator-to-metal transition of VO2 modifies not only the electric and magnetic responses of the metasurface, but also its magnetoelectric coupling, providing access to distinct bianisotropic states within a single platform. Temperature-dependent experimental characterization confirms the thermally driven evolution of the absorption asymmetry. Based on this framework, we identify different operational regimes and demonstrate how bianisotropy reconfiguration enables transmissive and reflective directional functionalities, including transmission power-limiting, power-dependent asymmetric reflection, and power-dependent absorptivity/emissivity. These results establish dynamic control of magnetoelectric coupling as a powerful degree of freedom for multifunctional and adaptive photonic metasurfaces for optical and thermal applications.
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BibTeX
@misc{hostaletvicent2026novel,
title = {{Novel functionalities enabled by asymmetric reconfiguration in VO2-dielectric metasurfaces}},
author = {P. Hostalet-Vicent and L. M. Máñez-Espina and K. Schouteden and J. P. Locquet and M. Seo and T. Mengual-Chulia and P. Sanchis and A. Díaz-Rubio},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.06711},
eprint = {2610.06711},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.06711},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Novel functionalities enabled by asymmetric reconfiguration in VO2-dielectric metasurfaces
AU - P. Hostalet-Vicent
AU - L. M. Máñez-Espina
AU - K. Schouteden
AU - J. P. Locquet
AU - M. Seo
AU - T. Mengual-Chulia
AU - P. Sanchis
AU - A. Díaz-Rubio
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.06711
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.06711
AB - Bianisotropic metasurfaces provide electromagnetic functionalities that cannot be achieved through electric and magnetic responses alone, enabling asymmetric scattering, directional absorption, and advanced wavefront control. At optical frequencies, however, most demonstrations rely on static nanostructures whose magnetoelectric response is fixed after fabrication. Here, we investigate the opportunities enabled by dynamic reconfiguration of electromagnetic bianisotropy using a thermally tunable silicon--VO_2 metasurface operating in the near-infrared. By combining a collective-polarizability framework with numerical simulations and experimental characterization, we show that the insulator-to-metal transition of VO_2 modifies not only the electric and magnetic responses of the metasurface, but also its magnetoelectric coupling, providing access to distinct bianisotropic states within a single platform. Temperature-dependent experimental characterization confirms the thermally driven evolution of the absorption asymmetry. Based on this framework, we identify different operational regimes and demonstrate how bianisotropy reconfiguration enables transmissive and reflective directional functionalities, including transmission power-limiting, power-dependent asymmetric reflection, and power-dependent absorptivity/emissivity. These results establish dynamic control of magnetoelectric coupling as a powerful degree of freedom for multifunctional and adaptive photonic metasurfaces for optical and thermal applications.
ER -