Effects of Mismatch on IC-Equipped Programmable Metasurfaces

Existing programmable metasurfaces (PMSFs) need significant steps for their commercialization. Integrated circuits (ICs) offer the potential to increase the functionality of PMSFs while reducing their cost and energy consumption. This approach requires a large number of ICs and entails significant challenges for the PMSF development. Statistical models of radio frequency (RF) and microwave (MW) components are not provided by the majority of commercially available semiconductor technologies, so their effects are usually tackled in an empirical manner. These RF and MW components are used for the loading of each unit cell within the PMSF, and the effects of component's mismatch cascades to the scattered far field of the PMSF. A study of the effects of mismatch on the scattered far field of an IC-equipped PMSF is presented. A correlation between the degradation of the scattered far field and the components' standard deviation is shown.