Mimicking the cochlea with an active acoustic metamaterial. (10th September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rupin, Matthieu; Lerosey, Geoffroy; de Rosny, Julien; Lemoult, Fabrice
• Is Part Of: New journal of physics. Volume 21:Number 9(2019:Sep.)
• Publication Date: 2019-09-10
• Subjects: acoustics -- inner ear -- hearing -- metamaterial; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics; Periodicals; 530.05
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/ab3d8f
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2630

Abstract

Abstract: The human ear is a fascinating sensor, capable of detecting pressures over ten octaves of frequency and twelve orders of magnitudes. Here, following a biophysical model, we demonstrate experimentally that the physics of a living cochlea can be emulated by an active one-dimensional acoustic metamaterial. The latter solely consists on a set of subwavelength active acoustic resonators, coupled to a main propagating waveguide. By introducing a gradient in the resonators' properties, we establish an experimental set-up which mimics the dynamical responses of both the dead and the living cochleae: the cochlear tonotopy as well as the low-amplitude sound amplifier are reproduced.