High-dimensional multiplexing through vortex electromagnetic wave manipulation by space-time-coding metasurfaces

Chenfeng Yang; Si Ran Wang; Jia Chen Du; Man Ting Wang; Zheng Xing Wang; Ka Fai Chan; Dong-Ze Zheng; Geng-Bo Wu

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02232-6

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High-dimensional multiplexing through vortex electromagnetic wave manipulation by space-time-coding metasurfaces

Original Articles

- High-dimensional multiplexing through vortex electromagnetic wave manipulation by space-time-coding metasurfaces
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 6, Pages: 1848-1860(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
  2.Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
  3.Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada
  4.School of Electronics Science and Engineering, University of Electronics Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China
- Author bio：
  
  Geng-Bo Wu (bogwu2@cityu.edu.hk)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02232-6
  CLC：
- Received：03 October 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-01-20，
  
  Accepted：06 February 2026，
  
  Online First：09 March 2026，
  
  Published：30 June 2026
- Accepted：
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Yang, C. F. et al. High-dimensional multiplexing through vortex electromagnetic wave manipulation by space-time-coding metasurfaces. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1848-1860 (2026).
DOI：

Yang, C. F. et al. High-dimensional multiplexing through vortex electromagnetic wave manipulation by space-time-coding metasurfaces. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1848-1860 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02232-6.

摘要

Abstract

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a fundamental property of light

with widespread applications across various fields

from quantum mechanics to advanced imaging and telecommunications. The inherent orthogonality of OAM beams allows information multiplexing in unique

high-dimensional states. However

conventional OAM-based systems encounter long-standing integration and scalability challenges due to the heavy reliance on complex optical components and redundant radio frequency chains for multi-channel transmission. Here

we propose a dual-polarized asynchronous space-time-coding metasurface (DASM) for producing coaxial OAM beams in multiple physical domains through a single aperture. By synergistically combining OAM

polarization

and frequency division multiplexing

DASM constructs a high-dimensional communication framework

dramatically increasing the number of supported channels. Notably

DASM further streamlines the framework by directly modulating the information carried by OAM beams

eliminating the need for complicated external modulators. The high-dimensional multiplexing framework offers a simplified

versatile

and efficient solution for substantial development in wireless communications capacity and scalability.

关键词

Keywords

references

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