Relying on the local orientation of nanostructures, Pancharatnam–Berry metasurfaces are currently enabling a new generation of polarization-sensitive optical devices. A systematical mesoscopic description of topological metasurfaces is developed, providing a deeper understanding of the physical mechanisms leading to the polarization-dependent breaking of translational symmetry in contrast with propagation phase effects. These theoretical results, along with interferometric experiments contribute to the development of a solid analytical framework for arbitrary polarization-dependent metasurfaces.
