Topological acoustic polaritons: robust sound manipulation at the subwavelength scale. (20th July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yves, Simon; Fleury, Romain; Lemoult, Fabrice; Fink, Mathias; Lerosey, Geoffroy
• Is Part Of: New journal of physics. Volume 19:Number 7(2017:Jul.)
• Publication Date: 2017-07-20
• Subjects: acoustic metamaterials -- topological insulators -- polaritons -- quantum spin Hall effect; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics; Periodicals; 530.05
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/aa66f8
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2630

Abstract

Abstract: Topological insulators, a hallmark of condensed matter physics, have recently reached the classical realm of acoustic waves. A remarkable property of time-reversal invariant topological insulators is the presence of unidirectional spin-polarized propagation along their edges, a property that could lead to a wealth of new opportunities in the ability to guide and manipulate sound. Here, we demonstrate and study the possibility to induce topologically non-trivial acoustic states at the deep subwavelength scale, in a structured two-dimensional metamaterial composed of Helmholtz resonators. Radically different from previous designs based on non-resonant sonic crystals, our proposal enables robust sound manipulation on a surface along predefined, subwavelength pathways of arbitrary shapes.