Graphene-based multi-channel OOK communication with frequency-multiplexed switchable metasurface

Abstract

Programmable metasurfaces have recently attracted considerable interest for their versatile applications in areas such as beam steering, holography, and wireless communications, utilizing either phase or amplitude modulation. Despite this, programmable amplitude coding modulation has seen limited exploration, primarily due to the difficulties involved in achieving real-time dynamic amplitude control. Here, we propose a reprogrammable amplitude-coding metasurface utilizing the on–off keying (OOK) method combined with frequency modulation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to simultaneously address both the metasurface design and the theoretical investigation of OOK simultaneously, considering all parameters present in the design, channel, and on–off ratio. The proposed metasurface comprises two graphene layers with separate biasing voltages. By controlling the chemical potential of each layer, we can independently modulate the amplitude in two states at two different frequencies through a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). This bias-driven control allows the device to operate actively and reconfigure its response in real-time. In addition, we employ an information encryption method using the substitution cipher method and transmit it at two amplitude levels at distinct frequencies to safeguard transmission information against eavesdropping. Simulation and numerical results convincingly demonstrate that the proposed reprogrammable metasurface facilitates secure communication in multi-channel data encryption, terahertz (THz) data storage, information processing, and THz communication.