Signal conversion plays an important role in many applications such as communication,sensing,and imaging.Realizing signal conversion between optical and microwave frequencies is a crucial step to construct hybrid communication systems that combine both optical and microwave wireless technologies to achieve better features,which are highly desirable in the future wireless communications.However,such a signal conversion process typically requires a complicated relay to perform multiple operations,which will consume additional hardware/time/energy resources.Here,we report a light-to-microwave transmitter based on the time-varying and programmable metasurface integrated with a high-speed photoelectric detection circuit into a hybrid.Such a transmitter can convert a light intensity signal to two microwave binary frequency shift keying signals by using the dispersion characteristics of the metasurface to implement the frequency division multiplexing.To illustrate the metasurface-based transmitter,a hybrid wireless communication system that allows dual-channel data transmissions in a light-to-microwave link is demonstrated,and the experimental results show that two different videos can be transmitted and received simultaneously and independently.Our metasurface-enabled signal conversion solution may enrich the functionalities of metasurfaces,and could also stimulate new information-oriented applications.

Xin Ge Zhang;Ya Lun Sun;Bingcheng Zhu;Wei Xiang Jiang;Qian Yu;Han Wei Tian;Cheng-Wei Qiu;Zaichen Zhang;Tie Jun Cui

State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves,School of Information Science and Engineering,Southeast University,210096 Nanjing,China;National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory,School of Information Science and Engineering,Southeast University,210096 Nanjing,China;Frontiers Science Center for Mobile Information Communication and Security,Southeast University,210096 Nanjing,China;Purple Mountain Laboratories,211111 Nanjing,China;Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,National University of Singapore,Singapore 117583,Singapore

光：科学与应用（英文版）

[1]Xin Ge Zhang;Ya Lun Sun;Bingcheng Zhu;Wei Xiang Jiang;Qian Yu;Han Wei Tian;Cheng-Wei Qiu;Zaichen Zhang;Tie Jun Cui-.A metasurface-based light-to-microwave transmitter for hybrid wireless communications)[J].光：科学与应用（英文版）,2022(06):1139-1148

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