Waveguiding inside the complete band gap of a phononic crystal slab

Imaging phonon eigenstates and elucidating the energy storage characteristics of a honeycomb-lattice phononic crystal cavity

We extend gigahertz time-domain imaging to a wideband investigation of the eigenstates of a phononic crystal cavity. Using omnidirectionally excited phonon wave vectors, we implement an ultrafast technique to experimentally probe the two-dimensional acoustic field inside and outside a hexagonal cavity in a honeycomb-lattice phononic crystal formed in a microscopic crystalline silicon slab, thereby revealing the confinement and mode volumes of phonon eigenstates-some of which are clearly hexapole in character-lying both inside and outside the phononic-crystal band gap. This allows us to obtain a quantitative measure of the spatial acoustic energy storage characteristics of a phononic crystal cavity. We also introduce a numerical approach involving toneburst excitation and the monitoring of the acoustic energy decay together with the integral of the Poynting vector to calculate the Q factor of the principal in-gap eigenmode, showing it to be limited by ultrasonic attenuation rather than by phonon leakage to the surrounding region.

Complex-Eigenfrequency Band Structure of Viscoelastic Phononic Crystals

The consideration of material losses in phononic crystals leads naturally to the introductionof complex valued eigenwavevectors or eigenfrequencies representing the attenuation of elastic wavesin space or in time, respectively. Here, we propose a new technique to obtain phononic band structureswith complex eigenfrequencies but real wavevectors, in the case of viscoelastic materials, wheneverelastic losses are proportional to frequency. Complex-eigenfrequency band structures are obtainedfor a sonic crystal in air, and steel/epoxy and silicon/void phononic crystals, with realistic viscouslosses taken into account. It is further found that the imaginary part of eigenfrequencies are wellpredicted by perturbation theory and are mostly independent of periodicity, i.e., they do not accountfor propagation losses but for temporal damping of Bloch waves.

Simultaneous large band gaps and localization of electromagnetic and elastic waves in defect-free quasicrystals

We report numerically large and complete photonic and phononic band gaps that simultaneously exist in eight-fold phoxonic quasicrystals (PhXQCs). PhXQCs can possess simultaneous photonic and phononic band gaps over a wide range of geometric parameters. Abundant localized modes can be achieved in defect-free PhXQCs for all photonic and phononic polarizations. These defect-free localized modes exhibit multiform spatial distributions and can confine simultaneously electromagnetic and elastic waves in a large area, thereby providing rich selectivity and enlarging the interaction space of optical and elastic waves. The simulated results based on finite element method show that quasiperiodic structures formed of both solid rods in air and holes in solid materials can simultaneously confine and tailor electromagnetic and elastic waves; these structures showed advantages over the periodic counterparts.

Sharp bends of phononic crystal surface modes

Sharp bending of surface waves at the interface of a two-dimensional phononic crystal (PnC) of steel cylinders in air and the method of using a diagonally offset cylindrical scatterer are numerically demonstrated by finite-element method simulations. The radii of the diagonally offset scatterer and the cylinder at the PnC corner, along with the distance between them, are treated as optimization parameters in the genetic algorithm optimization of sharp bends. Surface wave transmittance of at most 5% for the unmodified sharp bend is significantly enhanced to approximately 75% as a result of optimization. A series of transmittance peaks whose maxima increase exponentially, as their widths reduce, with increasing frequency is observed for the optimized sharp bend. The transmittance peaks appear at frequencies corresponding to integer plus half-beat periods, depending on the finite surface length. The optimal parameters are such that the cylinder radius at the PnC corner is not significantly modified, whereas a diagonally offset scatterer having a diameter of almost two periods and a shortest distance of about 0.7 periods between them is required for the strongest transmittance peak. Utilization of PnC surface sharp bends as acoustic ring resonators is demonstrated.

Acoustic waveguiding by pliable conduits with axial cross sections as linear waveguides in two-dimensional sonic crystals

Pliable conduits composed of periodically arranged concentric aluminum tori in air, with their axial cross sections acting as linear waveguides in two-dimensional sonic crystals, are numerically shown to guide acoustic waves in three dimensions in a flexible manner. Waveguide band structures are obtained by exploiting axial symmetry in a super-cell approach through two-dimensional finite-element simulations under the periodic boundary conditions. One isolated band having a bandwidth of 19.66% or 10.10% is observed for each guide, whose cross section is either in square or triangular geometry, respectively. Corresponding mode profiles indicate efficient guiding, as the acoustic energy is mainly concentrated in the hollow-core region of the guides. Transmittance spectra calculated through finite-element simulations are in agreement with the computed guiding bands. Transmittance along the waveguides with square and triangular axial cross sections around mid-band frequencies of their guiding bands varies slightly from -6.05 and -6.65 dB to -5.98 and -8.86 dB, respectively, as the guide length is increased from 10 to 200 periods. Efficient guiding across the smooth bends over circular arcs up to 90 deg is also demonstrated through three-dimensional finite-element method simulations.

Sonic crystal acoustic switch device

This study reports a wave-controlled sonic crystal switch device that exhibits a destructive interference-based wave to wave reverse switching effect. By applying control waves, this acoustic device, composed of a two-dimensional square lattice sonic crystal block, reduces acoustic wave transmission from input to output. The finite difference time domain simulation and experimental results confirm the wave-to-wave reverse switching effect at the peak frequencies of the second band. The proposed sonic crystal switch prototype provides a contrast rate of 86% at 11.3 kHz frequency. This wave-to-wave switching effect is useful for controlling wave propagation for smart structure applications.

Mathieu function solutions for photoacoustic waves in sinusoidal one-dimensional structures

The photoacoustic effect for a one-dimensional structure, the sound speed of which varies sinusoidally in space, is shown to be governed by an inhomogeneous Mathieu equation with the forcing term dependent on the spatial and temporal properties of the exciting optical radiation. New orthogonality relations, traveling wave Mathieu functions, and solutions to the inhomogeneous Mathieu equation are found, which are used to determine the character of photoacoustic waves in infinite and finite length phononic structures. Floquet solutions to the Mathieu equation give the positions of the band gaps, the damping of the acoustic waves within the band gaps, and the dispersion relation for photoacoustic waves. The solutions to the Mathieu equation give the photoacoustic response of the structure, show the space equivalent of subharmonic generation and acoustic confinement when waves are excited within band gaps.

Phononic plate waves

In the past two decades, phononic crystals (PCs) which consist of periodically arranged media have attracted considerable interest because of the existence of complete frequency band gaps and maneuverable band structures. Recently, Lamb waves in thin plates with PC structures have started to receive increasing attention for their potential applications in filters, resonators, and waveguides. This paper presents a review of recent works related to phononic plate waves which have recently been published by the authors and coworkers. Theoretical and experimental studies of Lamb waves in 2-D PC plate structures are covered. On the theoretical side, analyses of Lamb waves in 2-D PC plates using the plane wave expansion (PWE) method, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, and finite-element (FE) method are addressed. These methods were applied to study the complete band gaps of Lamb waves, characteristics of the propagating and localized wave modes, and behavior of anomalous refraction, called negative refraction, in the PC plates. The theoretical analyses demonstrated the effects of PC-based negative refraction, lens, waveguides, and resonant cavities. We also discuss the influences of geometrical parameters on the guiding and resonance efficiency and on the frequencies of waveguide and cavity modes. On the experimental side, the design and fabrication of a silicon-based Lamb wave resonator which utilizes PC plates as reflective gratings to form the resonant cavity are discussed. The measured results showed significant improvement of the insertion losses and quality factors of the resonators when the PCs were applied.

Imaging off-plane shear waves with a two-dimensional phononic crystal lens

A two-dimensional flat phononic crystal (PC) lens for focusing off-plane shear waves is proposed. The lens consists of a triangular lattice hole-array, embedded in a solid matrix. The self-collimation effect is employed to guide the shear waves propagating through the lens along specific directions. The Dirichlet-to-Neumann maps (DtN) method is employed to calculate the band structure of the PC, which can avoid the problems of bad convergence and fake bands automatically in the void-solid PC structure. When the lens is illuminated by the off-plane shear waves emanating from a point source, a subwavelength image appears in the far-field zone. The imaging characteristics are investigated by calculating the displacement fields explicitly using the multiple scattering method, and the results are in good agreement with the ray-trace predictions. Our results may provide insights for designing new phononic devices.