Compact Acoustic Rainbow Trapping in a Bioinspired Spiral Array of Graded Locally Resonant Metamaterials

Amber rainbow ribbon effect in broadband optical metamaterials

Using the trapped rainbow effect to slow down or even stop light has been widely studied. However, high loss and energy leakage severely limited the development of rainbow devices. Here, we observed the negative Goos-Hänchen effect in film samples across the entire visible spectrum. We also discovered an amber rainbow ribbon and an optical black hole due to perfect back reflection in optical waveguides, where little light leaks out. Not only does the amber rainbow ribbon effect show an automatic frequency selection response, as predicted by single frequency theoretical models and confirmed by experiments, it also shows spatial periodic regulation, resulting from broadband omnidirectional visible metamaterials prepared by disordered assembly systems. This broadband light trapping system could play a crucial role in the fields of optical storage and information processing when being used to construct ultra-compact modulators and other tunable devices.

Experimental demonstration of rainbow trapping of elastic waves in two-dimensional axisymmetric phononic crystal platesa)

Structures with specific graded geometries or properties can cause spatial separation and local field enhancement of wave energy. This phenomenon is called rainbow trapping, which manifests itself as stopping the propagation of waves at different locations according to their frequencies. In acoustics, most research on rainbow trapping has focused on wave propagation in one dimension. This research examined the elastic wave trapping performance of a two-dimensional (2D) axisymmetric grooved phononic crystal plate structure. The performance of the proposed structure is validated using numerical simulations based on finite element analysis and experimental measurements using a laser Doppler vibrometer. It is found that rainbow trapping within the frequency range of 165-205 kHz is achieved, where elastic waves are trapped at different radial distances in the plate. The results demonstrate that the proposed design is capable of effectively capturing elastic waves across a broad frequency range of interest. This concept could be useful in applications such as filtering and energy harvesting by concentrating wave energy at different locations in the structure.

Bioinspired Soft Elastic Metamaterials for Reconstruction of Natural Hearing

Natural hearing which means hearing naturally like normal people is critical for patients with hearing loss to participate in life. Cochlear implants have enabled numerous severe hearing loss patients to hear voice functionally, while cochlear implant users can hardly distinguish different tones or appreciate music subject to the absence of rate coding and insufficient frequency channels. Here a bioinspired soft elastic metamaterial that reproduces the shape and key functions of the human cochlea is reported. Inspired by human cochlea, the metamaterials are designed to possess graded microstructures with high effective refractive index distributed on a spiral shape to implement position-related frequency demultiplexing, passive sound enhancements of 10 times, and high-speed parallel processing of 168-channel sound/piezoelectric signals. Besides, it is demonstrated that natural hearing artificial cochlea has fine frequency resolution up to 30 Hz, a wide audible range from 150-12 000 Hz, and a considerable output voltage that can activate the auditory pathway in mice. This work blazes a promising trail for reconstruction of natural hearing in patients with severe hearing loss.

Metamaterials for Acoustic Noise Filtering and Energy Harvesting

Artificial methods for noise filtering are required for the twenty-first century's Factory vision 4.0. From various perspectives of physics, noise filtering capabilities could be addressed in multiple ways. In this article, the physics of noise control is first dissected into active and passive control mechanisms and then further different physics are categorized to visualize their respective physics, mechanism, and target of their respective applications. Beyond traditional passive approaches, the comparatively modern concept for sound isolation and acoustic noise filtering is based on artificial metamaterials. These new materials demonstrate unique interaction with acoustic wave propagation exploiting different physics, which is emphasized in this article. A few multi-functional metamaterials were reported to harvest energy while filtering the ambient noise simultaneously. It was found to be extremely useful for next-generation noise applications where simultaneously, green energy could be generated from the energy which is otherwise lost. In this article, both these concepts are brought under one umbrella to evaluate the applicability of the respective methods. An attempt has been made to create groundbreaking transformative and collaborative possibilities. Controlling of acoustic sources and active damping mechanisms are reported under an active mechanism. Whereas Helmholtz resonator, sound absorbing, spring-mass damping, and vibration absorbing approaches together with metamaterial approaches are reported under a passive mechanism. The possible application of metamaterials with ventilation while performing noise filtering is reported to be implemented for future Smart Cities.

Robustness of subwavelength devices: a case study of cochlea-inspired rainbow sensors

We derive asymptotic formulae describing how the properties of subwavelength devices are changed by the introduction of errors and imperfections. As a demonstrative example, we study a class of cochlea-inspired rainbow sensors. These are graded metamaterials which have been designed to mimic the frequency separation performed by the cochlea. The device considered here has similar dimensions to the cochlea and has a resonant spectrum that falls within the range of audible frequencies. We show that the device’s properties (including its role as a signal filtering device) are stable with respect to small imperfections in the positions and sizes of the resonators. Additionally, under suitable assumptions, if the number of resonators is sufficiently large, then the device’s properties are stable under the removal of a resonator.

Acoustic waveguide based on cascaded Luneburg lens

This paper investigates the acoustic Luneburg Lens (ALL) as a design framework for guiding acoustic wave propagation. In this study, an acoustic waveguide is proposed based on the characteristics of both acoustic wave focusing and collimation of cascaded ALLs. The continuous variation of the refractive index of the ALL is achieved by using lattice unit cells with a graded filling ratio. A cascaded ALL waveguide device is fabricated based on the additive manufacturing technique. The experimental results obtained with this device are consistent with the numerical simulations and theoretical calculations.

Flattened structural Luneburg lens for broadband beamforming

A conventional structural Luneburg lens is a symmetric circular gradient-index lens with refractive indices decreasing from the centre along the radial direction. In this paper, a flattened structural Luneburg lens (FSLL) based on structural thickness variations is designed by using the quasi-conformal transformation technique. Through numerical simulations and experimental studies, the FSLL is demonstrated to have excellent beam steering performance for the manipulation of flexural wave propagation at desired angles.

Cochlea-inspired design of an acoustic rainbow sensor with a smoothly varying frequency response

A number of physical arrangements for acoustic rainbow sensors have been suggested, where the aim is to separate different frequency components into different physical locations along the sensor. Although such spatial discrimination has been achieved with several designs of sensor, the resulting frequency responses at a given position along the sensor are generally not smoothly varying. In contrast, the cochlea provides an interesting natural example of a rainbow sensor, which has an exponential frequency distribution and whose response does vary smoothly with frequency. The design of a rainbow sensor is presented that has a number of discrete resonators and an exponential frequency distribution. We discuss the conditions for a smoothly varying frequency response in such a sensor, as part of a broader design strategy. It is shown that the damping within the resonators determines the trade-off between the frequency resolution and the number of elements required to achieve a smooth response. The connection is explained between this design and that of an effective acoustic absorber. The finite number of hair cells means that the cochlea itself can be thought of as being composed of discrete units and the conditions derived above are compared with those that are observed in the cochlea.