Currently, the market for smart metasurfaces is still in the research stage, facing many technical challenges in engineering applications, network deployment, and other aspects.

Metasurfaces, also known as electromagnetic metasurfaces, are artificial layered materials composed of two-dimensional periodic subwavelength structural arrays. By designing suitable subwavelength structures, metasurfaces can flexibly control the amplitude, polarization state, phase, polarization mode, propagation mode, and other characteristics of electromagnetic waves. Based on this, metasurfaces have broad application prospects in areas such as planar lenses, holographic optics, autonomous driving, remote sensing, ultra-high-resolution imaging, beam generation, polarization devices, and more.

According to the types of waves being controlled, metasurfaces can be divided into mechanical metasurfaces, optical metasurfaces, acoustic metasurfaces, etc. Based on different parameter properties, metasurfaces are classified into fixed-parameter metasurfaces and dynamically tunable metasurfaces. Depending on the in-plane structural forms, metasurfaces are further divided into uniform film layers and lateral subwavelength microstructures. And based on different technical forms, metasurfaces are classified into active metasurface technology and passive metasurface technology.

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) belong to dynamically tunable metasurfaces and are considered a key enabling technology for 6G. RIS has advantages such as low energy consumption, low cost, easy deployment, and programmability, making it promising for applications in large-scale D2D communications, 6G wireless communications, wireless coverage enhancement, wireless system capacity enhancement, and other scenarios. Currently, the market for smart metasurfaces is still in the research stage, facing many technical challenges in engineering applications, network deployment, and other aspects.

According to the "2024-2029 Metasurface (Metamaterial Surface) Industry Market Depth Research and Investment Prospect Prediction Analysis Report" released by the New ThinkTank Industry Research Center, optical metasurfaces are the most common type of metasurface, with highly flexible optical response and optical field control capabilities, which can be used to prepare superlenses. Superlenses are metasurfaces with lens functions. Compared with traditional lenses, superlenses are thin, efficient, and have low production costs for large-scale production. In recent years, companies such as TSMC, Apple, Canon, Samsung, MetalenZ, Lumotive, Alpha Cen, Shanhe Optoelectronics, and Najing Technology have been conducting industrial research on superlens technology.

Metasurfaces are a subdivision of metamaterials. Compared with three-dimensional metamaterials, metasurfaces have advantages such as ease of manufacturing, small physical size, and low loss. In recent years, with technological breakthroughs, some metasurface products have gradually entered the mass production stage, such as metasurface optical manipulation chips and superlenses, and the market space for metasurface products has expanded accordingly. It is estimated that the global market size for metasurface products will reach $9 billion by 2028.

Industry analysts from New ThinkTank stated that metasurfaces can be made from dielectric materials, plasma materials, semiconductor materials, phase change materials, etc., and their manufacturing techniques involve electron beam lithography, nanoimprinting, focused ion beam lithography, and more. Metasurfaces have broad application prospects. In recent years, with technological breakthroughs and an increase in market layout enterprises, metasurface products are moving towards practical applications, and the commercialization process is accelerating. The market is expected to experience explosive growth in the next 5-10 years.