The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Cardiff University's magnetic mirror half-wave plate design for b-mode polarisation modulation across wide bandwidths. Less than 1 mm thick, this metamaterial-based design employs a combination of a grid-based 'artificial magnetic conductor' and metal 'perfect electrical conductor' surfaces. The overall effect is to create a differential phase-shift between orthogonal polarisations equal to 180 degrees. The rotation of the plate causes modulation of the polarisation signal.