An Information Theory-Inspired Strategy for Design of Re-programmable Encrypted Graphene-based Coding Metasurfaces at Terahertz Frequencies

Inspired by the information theory, a new concept of re-programmable encrypted graphene-based coding metasurfaces was investigated at terahertz frequencies. A channel-coding function was proposed to convolutionally record an arbitrary information message onto unrecognizable but recoverable parity beams generated by a phase-encrypted coding metasurface. A single graphene-based reflective cell with dual-mode biasing voltages was designed to act as “0” and “1” meta-atoms, providing broadband opposite reflection phases. By exploiting graphene tunability, the proposed scheme enabled an unprecedented degree of freedom in the real-time mapping of information messages onto multiple parity beams which could not be damaged, altered, and reverse-engineered. Various encryption types such as mirroring, anomalous reflection, multi-beam generation, and scattering diffusion can be dynamically attained via our multifunctional metasurface. Besides, contrary to conventional time-consuming and optimization-based methods, this paper convincingly offers a fast, straightforward, and efficient design of diffusion metasurfaces of arbitrarily large size. Rigorous full-wave simulations corroborated the results where the phase-encrypted metasurfaces exhibited a polarization-insensitive reflectivity less than −10 dB over a broadband frequency range from 1 THz to 1.7 THz. This work reveals new opportunities for the extension of re-programmable THz-coding metasurfaces and may be of interest for reflection-type security systems, computational imaging, and camouflage technology.