A new publication from Opto-Electronic Sciences; DOI 10.29026/oes.2025.240026, discusses Origami Metasurfaces.

With the rapid development of holographic technology, holographic communication schemes based on metasurfaces have demonstrated great potential in electromagnetic (EM) multifunctionality. Traditional passive metasurfaces encounter bottlenecks in achieving multifunctional holographic applications due to their lack of reconfigurability. As the demand for dynamic manipulation of electromagnetic waves in signal processing and imaging systems continues to rise, it is urgent to explore new reconfigurable metasurface technologies. Origami art, leveraging the principles of paper folding, can change the electromagnetic properties of metasurfaces through simple mechanical operations. Its successful applications in various fields such as engineering and materials have brought new ideas to metasurface design. The electromagnetic holographic imaging functions of origami metasurfaces can be realized by the change of the chiral response of metal structures under different folding configurations. With its advantages of low cost and lightweight, it is expected to break through the predicament of traditional static metasurfaces, open up new paths for applications such as information encryption and camouflage in the electromagnetic field, and is also a clever means to improve the level of information security.

Recently, the research team on artificial structured functional materials from the Air Force Engineering University and their collaborators have focused their research on achieving reconfigurable chiral responses using Miura - ori origami, thereby promoting the development of holographic imaging and information encryption technologies. In this study, the research team ingeniously integrated the Rosenfeld principle with L - and D - metallic chiral enantiomers on the Miura - ori surface and meticulously designed the unit structure. In the planar state, the origami metasurface can achieve holographic encryption; while under the excitation of circularly polarized waves of specific spins at certain folding conditions and frequencies, multiplexed holographic images with circular dichroism can be reconstructed on the designated focal plane. In the experiments of this paper, the images of the letters "N" (under LCP incidence) and "I" (under RCP incidence) at f = 16.7 GHz were successfully reconstructed. The imaging mode efficiencies of the "N" and "I" images reached 41.79% and 55.20% respectively, and the peak signal - to - noise ratios were 7.63 and 9.52 respectively, fully demonstrating the effectiveness of this origami metasurface in holographic imaging and information encryption.

This form of origami breaks through the limitations of traditional metasurface design, offering novel and effective solutions for spin - selective systems, camouflage, and information encryption. As a camouflage device for information encryption, it holds promising applications in fields such as information security and target interference.

Keywords: origami / reconfigurable / chiral response / holographic imaging / information encryption

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The research team on artificial structured functional materials at the Air Force Engineering University is an innovation team for major basic research in Shaanxi Province, a youth innovation team in Shaanxi's universities, a team for building disciplinary high - grounds/high - end platforms at the Air Force Engineering University, and a team for the "2110 Project" /dual - construction of the military. It is a scientific and technological innovation team that focuses on the needs of national defense construction of the military, with the core and characteristic research directions of solving key problems in the design, preparation, and application development of new artificial structured functional materials. The team has published more than 400 SCI papers in journals such as Nature Communications, Advanced Science, and Laser & Photonics Reviews, which have been cited over 10,000 times. They have published the first domestic monograph on metamaterial stealth technology, been authorized 33 national invention patents, won one first - class and one second - class Natural Science Award of the Ministry of Education, one second - class Natural Science Award of Shaanxi Province, and three Excellent Academic Paper Awards of Natural Science in Shaanxi Province. The postgraduate students trained by the team have won 1 National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation and 1 nomination. In recent years, the national, military, and provincial - ministerial scientific research projects undertaken by the team cover multiple research directions of artificial structured functional materials and their applications, and a series of research achievements have been obtained. The research group actively conducts academic exchanges and cooperation, continuously explores cutting - edge technologies, and makes continuous efforts to promote the development of electromagnetic science.
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Opto-Electronic Science (OES) is a peer-reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary and international journal published by The Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences as a sister journal of Opto-Electronic Advances (OEA, IF=15.3). OES is dedicated to providing a professional platform to promote academic exchange and accelerate innovation. OES publishes articles, reviews, and letters of the fundamental breakthroughs in basic science of optics and optoelectronics.
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Zhu ZB, Li YF, Wang JF et al. Reconfigurable origami chiral response for holographic imaging and information encryption. Opto-Electron Sci 4, 240026 (2025). doi: 10.29026/oes.2025.240026