Programmable Electromagnetic Space via Metasurface Clusters

Abstract: The rapid evolution of next-generation communications and the Internet of Things (IoT) has catalyzed an urgent demand for governing expansive spatial environments as functional electromagnetic (EM) entities. However, deterministically programming such open EM spaces remains a formidable challenge, as current methodologies are largely confined to localized interfaces that lack the collective coordination required to orchestrate unbounded environments. Here, we introduce a general framework for the deterministic programming of EM space via cooperative metasurface clusters, achieved by mapping volumetric field interference landscapes onto a virtual nodal network. By representing excitations and meta-atoms as fully interconnected nodes, we transform intricate non-local interactions into tractable nodal states, enabling the precise quantitative synthesis of spatial scattering. This framework bridges local meta-atoms with global EM environment to program space as a functional entity, as demonstrated by a deeply coupled meta-emitter for programmable collective radiation and metasurface clusters that sculpt angle-resolved illusion spaces. By transitioning from individual components to cooperative multi-body assemblies, our work provides a scalable foundation for next-generation wireless networks, wave-based analog computing, and ambient intelligence, where space itself becomes a coherent functional and reconfigurable entity capable of holistic information management.