We investigate the possibility to model a metasurface, defined as a zero-thickness sheet of surface polarization currents, by a thin slab, characterized by a subwavelength thickness and usual voluminal medium parameters. First, we elaborate a general equivalence relation between the metasurface and the slab in terms of average electromagnetic fields. Then, we derive exact relations between the metasurface and slab susceptibilities and validate them by full-wave simulations. Finally, we discuss the simple and insightful Average Field Approximation (AFA) formula, illustrate its inappropriate for strong metasurface field transformations, and establish its range of validity. All of these developments are restricted to the simplest case of a uniform isotropic metasurface under normal plane wave incidence. We conclude from the complexity of the equivalence for this case, that a metasurface is generally best modeled in terms of Generalized Sheet Transition Conditions (GSTCs).
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