Call for Papers - Programmable Metamaterials and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces

Description

Over the past two decades, metamaterials and metasurfaces have emerged as powerful platforms for advanced electromagnetic wave manipulation. More recently, the capabilities to reconfigure the meta-atoms using electronic components or tunable materials (e.g. diodes, varactors, electromechanical systems, graphene, phase-change materials, and liquid crystals) and reprogram the array’s spatial and temporal coding sequences using field programmable gate array (FPGA) and other control units dynamically have unlocked a new era of programmable and intelligent metamaterials and metasufaces.

This evolution is catalyzing a convergence between the physical wave-based systems and digital information-driven paradigms, paving the way for innovative technologies that bridge electromagnetic physics and digital information. A particularly transformative application of the programmable metamaterials lies in the development of smart wireless environments, central to the vision of next-generation (6G) communication networks. In the communication community, programmable metasurfaces and other physical implementations using reflectarrays with reconfigurable impedance networks are broadly referred to as reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), which are densely integrated into the surroundings to dynamically shape, control, and optimize the wireless propagation.

To address such a multifaceted challenge, interdisciplinary innovations across electromagnetics, antenna design, microwave and millimeter-wave engineering, wireless communication, and information theory are highly demanded. Hence, this special topical issue invites high-quality contributions from both academia and industry, targeting the full spectrum of research and innovation in programmable metamaterials and RIS technologies. We welcome original work and review articles on theoretical frameworks, physics-consistent modeling, computational modeling, design methodologies, optimization, and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, experimental validations, system platforms, and application scenarios.

The topics of interest under the broad framework of programmable metamaterials and RIS include, but are not limited to:

• Advanced programmable meta-structures
• RIS and metasurfaces
• Beyond-diagonal RIS and non-local metasurfaces
• Holographic and stacked metasurfaces
• Novel mechanisms and materials for dynamic reconfigurability
• Space-time-coding metamaterials and metasurfaces
• Smart and adaptive wireless propagation environments
• Wave-based and microwave network-based analog computing
• Emerging paradigms and conceptual breakthroughs in programmable metamaterials and RIS
• Innovative modeling and design methodologies in programmable metamaterials and RIS
• Optimization algorithms for programmable platforms
• AI-driven tools and techniques for design and control
• Physics-consistent and circuit-theoretic modeling of RIS-aided wireless systems
• Information-theoretic perspectives and analysis of programmable metamaterials and RIS
• Physical-layer security using programmable metamaterials and RIS
• Fundamental physical bounds and limits of programmable metamaterials and RIS
• New communication architecture based on programmable metasurfaces and RIS
• Wireless sensing based on programmable metasurfaces and RIS
• Electromagnetic imaging and recognition based on programmable metasurfaces and RIS
• Integrated sensing and communication based on programmable metasurfaces and RIS

We especially encourage submissions that bridge the disciplines at the intersection of electromagnetics, wireless communication, and intelligent systems, offering innovative solutions to the evolving challenges of next-generation wireless networks.

Important Dates