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This study introduces a novel thermoacoustic (TA) focusing system enhanced by Airy beam-based acoustic metasurfaces, significantly improving acoustic focusing and efficiency. The system integrates a TA emitter, fabricated from carbon nanotube (CNT) films, with a binary acoustic metasurface capable of generating quasi-Airy beams. Through finite element simulations, the system's heat conduction, acoustic focusing, and self-healing properties were thoroughly analyzed. The results demonstrate that the system achieves superior sub-wavelength focusing, tunable focal length via frequency control, and robust self-healing, even in the presence of obstacles. These findings address current limitations in TA emitters and suggest broader applications in medical ultrasound and advanced technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holography can provide the desired wavefront phase and/or amplitude for imaging, particle manipulation, bacteria trapping, and cell patterning in optics and acoustics. However, previous work on acoustic holography is mostly based on local design optimization, either using active control of the sound source or relying on the structural design to provide the desired wavefront. Achieving precise control over the acoustic field remains a significant challenge. Here, we realize refined single-plane symmetric binary amplitude, asymmetric intensity gradient amplitude, and bi-objective hologram through the non-local holographic imaging theory that considers the acoustic coupling of structural units in detail. By taking into account the self-radiation and mutual radiation between many small units on a plate of well-designed thickness, as well as the transmission through the plate’s apertures, we can effectively regulate the sound field behind the plate. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through numerical simulations and experiments, showcasing a circle, a black hole, and a bi-objective with a circle and a square hologram. Notably, the acoustic black hole hologram precisely reconstructs the intensity gradient distribution at two bright spots. This non-local holographic imaging theory is valuable for the fine-intensity regulation of the sound field and is expected to be applied in ultrasound diagnosis and treatment, medical imaging, and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces a novel thermoacoustic (TA) focusing system enhanced by Airy beam-based acoustic metasurfaces, significantly improving acoustic focusing and efficiency. The system integrates a TA emitter, fabricated from carbon nanotube (CNT) films, with a binary acoustic metasurface capable of generating quasi-Airy beams. Through finite element simulations, the system’s heat conduction, acoustic focusing, and self-healing properties were thoroughly analyzed. The results demonstrate that the system achieves superior sub-wavelength focusing, tunable focal length via frequency control, and robust self-healing, even in the presence of obstacles. These findings address current limitations in TA emitters and suggest broader applications in medical ultrasound and advanced technology.

High‐quality acousto‐holographic patterns and images, integral to applications like 3D displays, acoustophoresis, and midair haptics, require precise distribution of ultrasound waves to achieve. Essential tools for this task are spatial sound modulators (SSMs), which control constituent elements to enable dynamic distribution of sound pressure. However, current ultrasonic SSMs face limitations due to high costs and the intricate actuation of numerous small, closely spaced units. This study introduces "segmented SSMs," novel devices that combine traditional acoustic metasurface pixel units into custom‐shaped segmented elements. These segmented SSMs reduce actuation costs and complexity while retaining pressure distribution quality. This approach includes a custom phase agglomeration algorithm (PAA), that offers a hierarchy of potential segmentation solutions for user selection. An SSM fabrication method is detailed using off‐the‐shelf 3D printers and bespoke control electronics, completing an end‐to‐end methodology from conception to realization. This approach is validated with two prototype SSM devices that focus sound waves and levitate polystyrene beads using dynamic segmented elements. Further enhancements to the technique are explored through hybrid SSM devices with both static and dynamic elements. The pipeline facilitates efficient SSM construction across diverse applications and invites the inception of future devices with varying sizes, uses, and actuation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A novel type of phase‐engineered acoustic metasurfaces with reconfigurable properties is reported, enabling the flexible broadband manipulation of reflected wavefronts. The participants of the metasurface are elements conceived to possess even‐distributed reflected phases covering 2π span with linearity and small acoustic energy loss. The reconfigurable property of the metasurface is implemented by rearranging the fixed meta‐elements based on the phase profile, which is related to the characteristic of a specific wavefront shape. The metasurface's capability is successfully demonstrated to achieve acoustic focusing and bending within the frequency range of 2300–2800 Hz, showcasing its feasibility and adaptability. To enhance its practical applications, porous materials are incorporated, leveraging the robustness of phase differences among the meta‐elements to achieve high acoustic energy cancellation. Effective sound attenuation occurs within the frequency range of 1300–3100 Hz, even under wide‐angle incidences ranging from −80° to 80°. The work paves the way for further research on reconfigurable acoustic metasurfaces in broad frequency regions and exerts favorable implications for generally applicable structures applied in multi‐fields including biomedical acoustics, noise control, and so on.

Acoustic metasurfaces, as two-dimensional acoustic metamaterials, are a current research topic for their sub-wavelength thickness and excellent acoustic wave manipulation. They hold significant promise in noise reduction and isolation, cloaking, camouflage, acoustic imaging, and focusing. Resonant structural units are utilized to construct acoustic metasurfaces with the unique advantage of controlling large wavelengths within a small size. In this paper, the recent research progresses of the resonant metasurfaces are reviewed, covering the design mechanisms and advances of structural units, the classification and application of the resonant metasurfaces, and the tunable metasurfaces. Finally, research interest in this field is predicted in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme impedance mismatch causes sound insulation at water–air interfaces, limiting numerous cross‐media applications such as ocean‐air wireless acoustic communication. Although quarter‐wave impedance transformers can improve transmission, they are not readily available for acoustics and are restricted by the fixed phase shift at full transmission. Here, this limitation is broken through impedance‐matched hybrid metasurfaces assisted by topology optimization. Sound transmission enhancement and phase modulation across the water–air interface are achieved independently. Compared to the bare water–air interface, it is experimentally observed that the average transmitted amplitude through an impedance‐matched metasurface at the peak frequency is enhanced by ≈25.9 dB, close to the limit of the perfect transmission 30 dB. And nearly 42 dB amplitude enhancement is measured by the hybrid metasurfaces with axial focusing function. Various customized vortex beams are experimentally realized to promote applications in ocean‐air communication. The physical mechanisms of sound transmission enhancement for broadband and wide‐angle incidences are revealed. The proposed concept has potential applications in efficient transmission and free communication across dissimilar media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic metamaterials have emerged as alternative solutions to achieve useful physical effects that differ from the ones obtained with traditional materials. In terms of sound absorption, previous works have addressed their potential as compact surfaces with high performance. Nevertheless, studies on their angle-dependent behavior are scarce. In this work, an analytic model and a numerical model to estimate the performance of periodic surfaces with unit cells composed of 2D Helmholtz resonators are presented. By making use of these modeling tools, the absorption of surfaces with one and three different resonators is studied as a function of both incidence angle and frequency. Changes in the incidence angle can cause variation of the maximum absorption coefficient, the frequencies at which the maximum performance is observed, and the frequency range of significant absorption. Furthermore, the rate at which the performance changes as a function of the incidence angle is larger as the angle increases. Given the angle dependency of these absorbers, a strategy to optimize the dimensions of the surface elements to maximize the absorption performance for predefined ranges of incidence angles and frequencies is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to realize acoustic holography via ultradeep‐subwavelength structures is a challenging problem in the past decades, which is thought impossible due to the linear proportional relationship between the structural thickness and acoustic wavelength. In this article, the methodology of ultrathin holography by patterning holes in an acoustic insulation plate with an ultradeep‐subwavelength thickness is introduced. The transmitted sound field can be manipulated arbitrarily to form a desired shape by designing the ultrathin pattern based on the nonlocal wave interaction theory. The physical mechanism of the nonlocal behavior to achieve a sophisticated hologram is revealed due to the interaction among the sound wave components themselves. Furthermore, the experiments are designed to map out the pressure amplitude field of a "sun" pattern in air and water, respectively. The work demonstrates the advantage of nonlocal ultrathin holography in the applications of ultrathin acoustic devices and provides inspiration for the holographic wave manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Extreme impedance mismatch causes sound insulation at water–air interfaces, limiting numerous cross‐media applications such as ocean‐air wireless acoustic communication. Although quarter‐wave impedance transformers can improve transmission, they are not readily available for acoustics and are restricted by the fixed phase shift at full transmission. Here, this limitation is broken through impedance‐matched hybrid metasurfaces assisted by topology optimization. Sound transmission enhancement and phase modulation across the water–air interface are achieved independently. Compared to the bare water–air interface, it is experimentally observed that the average transmitted amplitude through an impedance‐matched metasurface at the peak frequency is enhanced by ≈25.9 dB, close to the limit of the perfect transmission 30 dB. And nearly 42 dB amplitude enhancement is measured by the hybrid metasurfaces with axial focusing function. Various customized vortex beams are experimentally realized to promote applications in ocean‐air communication. The physical mechanisms of sound transmission enhancement for broadband and wide‐angle incidences are revealed. The proposed concept has potential applications in efficient transmission and free communication across dissimilar media.

Abstract How to realize acoustic holography via ultradeep‐subwavelength structures is a challenging problem in the past decades, which is thought impossible due to the linear proportional relationship between the structural thickness and acoustic wavelength. In this article, the methodology of ultrathin holography by patterning holes in an acoustic insulation plate with an ultradeep‐subwavelength thickness is introduced. The transmitted sound field can be manipulated arbitrarily to form a desired shape by designing the ultrathin pattern based on the nonlocal wave interaction theory. The physical mechanism of the nonlocal behavior to achieve a sophisticated hologram is revealed due to the interaction among the sound wave components themselves. Furthermore, the experiments are designed to map out the pressure amplitude field of a “sun” pattern in air and water, respectively. The work demonstrates the advantage of nonlocal ultrathin holography in the applications of ultrathin acoustic devices and provides inspiration for the holographic wave manipulation.

The advent of acoustic metasurfaces (AMs), which are the two-dimensional equivalents of metamaterials, has opened up new possibilities in wave manipulation using acoustically thin structures. Through the interaction between the acoustic waves and the subwavelength scattering, AMs exhibit versatile capabilities to control acoustic wave propagation such as by steering, focusing, and absorption. In recent years, this vibrant field has expanded to include tunable, reconfigurable, and programmable control to further expand the capacity of AMs. This paper reviews recent developments in AMs and summarizes the fundamental approaches for achieving tunable control, namely, by mechanical tuning, active control, and the use of field-responsive materials. An overview of basic concepts in each category is first presented, followed by a discussion of their applications and details about their performance. The review concludes with the outlook for future directions in this exciting field.

Abstract A piecewise acoustic metasurface is designed to suppress the first mode while marginally amplifying the Mack second mode in a Mach 4 flat-plate boundary layer (BL) flow. The results of linear stability theory (LST) and the e N method demonstrate the stabilization effect and transition delay performance, respectively. However, the direct numerical simulation (DNS) results indicate that the designed broadband acoustic metasurface actually weakly excites the first mode with a slightly larger fluctuating pressure amplitude at the surface, which is in contrast to the analysis of LST. The discrepancies are found to lie in the ‘roughness’ effect caused by the recirculation zones inside the microslits and the alternating expansion and compression waves induced at the slit edges, which significantly amplifies the first mode. For further clarification of the competitive mechanism between the acoustic stabilization and ‘roughness’ destabilization effects of metasurfaces on the first mode, a carefully designed metasurface is installed at the maximum growth rate region, which excites the first mode on the metasurface but inhibits its development downstream.

Acoustic metasurfaces, as two-dimensional acoustic metamaterials, are a current research topic for their sub-wavelength thickness and excellent acoustic wave manipulation. They hold significant promise in noise reduction and isolation, cloaking, camouflage, acoustic imaging, and focusing. Resonant structural units are utilized to construct acoustic metasurfaces with the unique advantage of controlling large wavelengths within a small size. In this paper, the recent research progresses of the resonant metasurfaces are reviewed, covering the design mechanisms and advances of structural units, the classification and application of the resonant metasurfaces, and the tunable metasurfaces. Finally, research interest in this field is predicted in future.

Acoustic orbital angular momentum (OAM) associated with helicoidal wavefront recently attracts rapidly-growing attentions, offering a new degree of freedom for acoustic manipulation. Due to the unique dynamical behavior and inherent mode orthogonality of acoustic OAM, its harnessing is of fundamental interests for wave physics, with great potential in a plethora of applications. The recent advance in materials physics further boosts efforts into controlling OAM-carrying acoustic vortices, especially acoustic metasurfaces with planar profile and subwavelength thickness. Thanks to their unconventional acoustic properties beyond attainable in the nature, acoustic artificial structures provide a powerful platform for new research paradigm for efficient generation and diverse manipulation of OAM in ways not possible before, enabling novel applications in diverse scenarios ranging from underwater communication to object manipulation. In this article, we present a comprehensive view of this emerging field by delineating the fundamental physics of OAMâ€"metasurface interaction and recent advances in the generation, manipulation, and application of acoustic OAM based on artificial structures, followed by an outlook for promising future directions and potential practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Acoustic metamaterials (AMMs) and acoustic metasurfaces (AMSs) are artificially structured materials with unique properties not found in natural materials. We review herein the properties of AMMs and AMSs that have been designed using different kinds of meta-atoms or meta-molecules with local resonance. AMMs composed of meta-atoms display a transmission dip with a negative modulus or a negative mass density. AMMs composed of two kinds of meta-atoms present a transparent transmission, indicating that they simultaneously have a negative modulus and a negative mass density. Furthermore, meta-molecule AMMs also exhibit double-negative properties. Moreover, acoustic meta-atoms or meta-molecules can be used to fabricate acoustic topological metamaterials with topologically protected edge state propagation. These meta-atoms and meta-molecules can also attain phase discontinuity near the resonant frequency, and thus they can be used to design AMSs with anomalous manipulation for acoustic waves. The tunability of meta-molecules provides a feasible path to achieve broadband AMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Design methods are deep-subwavelength sound absorption and sound wave modulation. • Acoustic metasurface achieves surface wave conversion for sound absorption enhancement. • Absorption mechanisms of a unit cell and periodic structure are investigated. • Absorption panel MPMs achieves multi-angle low-frequency broadband with absorption. The design of low-frequency broadband acoustic absorbers with thin thicknesses is a longstanding and challenging problem. This work proposes an acoustic metasurface consisting of macro-perforated porous, thin-walled perforated plate, and meta-porous layers embedded by thin-walled plate (MPM) to combine the advantages of porous material and resonator. MPM is formed by four subunits with a phase gradient. The acoustic properties of an MPM unit cell are investigated by a theoretical model based on homogenization theory and transfer matrix methods, and the theoretical model is verified by a numerical model. Then, the sound absorption mechanism of MPM unit cell is explored, and it is revealed that the mid-frequency and low-frequency sound waves are mainly dissipated by thin-walled perforated plate and meta-porous layers, and the macro-perforated porous structure target high-frequency absorption. In addition, the dependence of geometric parameters of MPM unit cell on acoustic performance and reflected phase is investigated. Furthermore, the geometric parameters of each subunit in acoustic metasurface are carefully designed, and excellent absorption in target frequency is obtained by the hybrid resonance of a single unit cell and the surface wave conversion of MPM with reflected phase gradient. Also, the appearance of perfect sound absorption comes from the far-field interference between reflected waves and the wave-trapping phenomenon near the periodic structure. A thin (λ/20) absorption panel MPMs is designed to achieve multi-angle low-frequency broadband absorption and an effective normal sound absorption (>50 %) band over 344–3000 Hz. This work proposes a novel design idea and opens possibilities for acoustic metasurface practical applications in noise mitigation of various scenarios. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A piecewise acoustic metasurface is designed to suppress the first mode while marginally amplifying the Mack second mode in a Mach 4 flat-plate boundary layer (BL) flow. The results of linear stability theory (LST) and the eN method demonstrate the stabilization effect and transition delay performance, respectively. However, the direct numerical simulation (DNS) results indicate that the designed broadband acoustic metasurface actually weakly excites the first mode with a slightly larger fluctuating pressure amplitude at the surface, which is in contrast to the analysis of LST. The discrepancies are found to lie in the 'roughness' effect caused by the recirculation zones inside the microslits and the alternating expansion and compression waves induced at the slit edges, which significantly amplifies the first mode. For further clarification of the competitive mechanism between the acoustic stabilization and 'roughness' destabilization effects of metasurfaces on the first mode, a carefully designed metasurface is installed at the maximum growth rate region, which excites the first mode on the metasurface but inhibits its development downstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report both numerical and experimental constructions of a tunnel structure with low-frequency low-reflection bidirectional sound insulation (BSI). The designed tunnel was constructed from a pair of lossy acoustic metasurfaces (AMs), which consists of six ultrathin coiled unit cells, attached on both sides. Based on the generalized Snell′s law and phase modulations for both AMs, the tunnel with the low-frequency BSI was constructed based on sound reflections and acoustic blind areas created by the AMs. The obtained transmittances were almost the same for sound incidences from both sides and were lower than −10 dB in the range 337–356 Hz. The simulated and measured results agreed well with each other. Additionally, we show that the low-reflection characteristic of the tunnel can be obtained simultaneously by thermoviscous energy loss in coiled channels of the unit cells. Finally, an interesting application of the designed tunnel in an open-window structure with low-frequency low-reflection BSI is further simulated in detail. The proposed tunnel based on the ultrathin lossy AMs has the advantages of ultrathin thickness (about λ/35), low-frequency low-reflection BSI, and high-performance ventilation, which may have potential applications in architectural acoustics and noise control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a general method to manipulate the angle of reflection from an arbitrary two-dimensional (2D) surface is proposed by applying an appropriate phase discontinuity along the arbitrary surface. Three surfaces, including plane surface, parabolic surface and circular surface are taken as instances to validate this method. The results show that angle of reflection is conducted to 6 0 ∘ for a wave incident to a plane surface at 4 5 ∘ , while 3 0 ∘ for a wave incident to the parabolic and circular surfaces normally. This kind of manipulation of acoustic waves for arbitrary reflecting surfaces opens up an avenue for reflected wavefront modulations and associated applications such as anti-sonar technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic and elastic waves can be manipulated by a novel artificial metasurface, usually composed of different microstructures. In this paper, the topology optimization technique was introduced to design single-groove acoustic metasurfaces based on genetic algorithms. The mixed variables are proposed to design the layouts of grooves, and a new objective function of anomalous refraction is established. Three case studies were obtained as follows: (1) anomalous refraction, (2) beam focusing, and (3) self-accelerating beams. Compared with the original single-groove metasurface, the optimized one has less scattering in the transmitted field, and its numerical simulation results are closer to the predicted values. This research is expected to contribute highly to the field of vibration and noise isolation, elastic wave filters, and acoustic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, high‐efficiency low‐frequency broadband noise control remains a great challenge in the scientific and engineering community. Herein, a composite acoustic metasurface is proposed that is composed of gradient hybrid unit structure with a perforated panel, coiled‐up cavities, and a separating plate. By controlling the position of the separating plate, a series of broader multistage sound‐absorbing peaks corresponding to different resonant frequencies can be achieved. A highly efficient low‐frequency broadband sound‐absorbing metasurface by combining the multiple unit structures with different absorbing peaks is realized successfully, possessing an average sound absorption coefficient above 0.94 in the range from 470 to 3130 Hz with a subwavelength thickness of only 89.8 mm. Furthermore, the proposed structure maintains a good mechanical performance with the compression elastic modulus of 375.57 MPa due to the designed honeycomb structures. Compared with the traditional sound‐absorbing materials, the composite hybrid honeycomb metasurface can achieve an excellent absorption performance with a simple and stable structure for practical application of low‐frequency noise control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic holograms have promising applications in sound‐field reconstruction, particle manipulation, ultrasonic haptics, and therapy. This study reports on the theoretical, numerical, and experimental investigation of multiplexed acoustic holograms at both audio and ultrasonic frequencies via a rationally designed transmission‐type acoustic metamaterial. The proposed metahologram is composed of two Fabry–Pérot resonant channels per unit cell, which enables the simultaneous modulation of the transmitted amplitude and phase at two desired frequencies. In contrast to conventional acoustic metamaterial‐based holograms, the design strategy proposed here provides a new degree of freedom (frequency) that can actively tailor holograms that are otherwise completely passive and significantly enhances the information encoded in acoustic metamaterials. To demonstrate the multiplexed acoustic metamaterial, the projection of two different high‐quality metaholograms is first shown at 14 and 17 kHz, with the patterns of the letters N and S. Then, two‐channel ultrasound focusing and annular beams generation for the incident ultrasonic frequencies of 35 and 42.5 kHz are demonstrated. These multiplexed acoustic metaholograms offer a technical advance to tackle the rising challenges in the fields of acoustic metamaterials, architectural acoustics, and medical ultrasound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic metasurfaces can reshape a reflected wavefront rather arbitrarily, despite being much thinner than the wavelength, thus allowing on-demand wavefront modulation in a variety of applications. Recent passive metasurfaces, however, have suffered from bandwidth limitations, thus restricting their range of operation. In this work, we propose the systematic design of ultra-broadband passive metasurfaces by combining the broadband local reflection rule with an optimization method. The validation of the technique is demonstrated by fabrication and measurement of an ultra-broadband carpet cloak. Numerical and experimental results show that the relative bandwidth of the optimized carpet cloak, thinner than one fifth of the maximum wavelength, can exceed 93.33%, a value that is much larger than that of previous passive metasurfaces. Furthermore, multi-frequency pulse incidence tests reveal the excellent time-domain broadband characteristics of the metasurface over a wide range of angles of incidence. The proposed strategy opens a new route for the design of advanced passive metasurfaces for ultra-broadband wave manipulation and thus promotes practical applications of broadband acoustical devices.

We report both numerical and experimental constructions of a tunnel structure with low-frequency low-reflection bidirectional sound insulation (BSI). The designed tunnel was constructed from a pair of lossy acoustic metasurfaces (AMs), which consists of six ultrathin coiled unit cells, attached on both sides. Based on the generalized Snell′s law and phase modulations for both AMs, the tunnel with the low-frequency BSI was constructed based on sound reflections and acoustic blind areas created by the AMs. The obtained transmittances were almost the same for sound incidences from both sides and were lower than −10 dB in the range 337–356 Hz. The simulated and measured results agreed well with each other. Additionally, we show that the low-reflection characteristic of the tunnel can be obtained simultaneously by thermoviscous energy loss in coiled channels of the unit cells. Finally, an interesting application of the designed tunnel in an open-window structure with low-frequency low-reflection BSI is further simulated in detail. The proposed tunnel based on the ultrathin lossy AMs has the advantages of ultrathin thickness (about λ/35), low-frequency low-reflection BSI, and high-performance ventilation, which may have potential applications in architectural acoustics and noise control.

Acoustic vortex beam, which carries the orbital angular momentum, has attracted great interest in recent years. In this paper, we propose a novel curved impedance-matched metasurface constructed with tunable units, which are filled with mixed gases with different refractive indices. It converts an acoustic point source to vortex beam with nearly unity transmittance in a broad frequency bandwidth. By arranging the units, we demonstrate topological charge modulation and rotated direction shifting for acoustic vortex beams. In addition, combining with phase superposition effect, we introduce double curved metasurfaces model. A vortex beam can transform into another vortex beam with different energy flows conveniently. The proposed methods open up an effective avenue for tailoring acoustic vortex fields and provide possibility for applications such as particles trapping, acoustic communication and biomedical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex beams have a typical characteristic of orbital angular momentum, which provides a new degree of freedom for information processing in remote communication and a form of non-contact manipulation for trapping particles. In acoustics, vortex beams are generally observed on the surface of a metamaterial structure or in a waveguide with a hard boundary owing to the characteristic of easy diffusion in free space. The realization of an acoustic vortex beam with a long-distance propagation in free space still remains a challenge. To overcome this, we report a type of acoustic Bessel vortex (ABV) beam created by a quasi-three-dimensional reflected metasurface in free space based on phase modulation. By using the Bessel and vortex phase profiles, we can realize an ABV beam with the high performances of both Bessel and vortex beams, and its effective propagation distance is larger than 9.2λ in free space. Beyond that, we discuss the bandwidth and topological charge of the ABV beam in detail, and the fractional bandwidth can reach about 0.28. The proposed ABV beam has the advantages of a high-performance vortex, long-distance propagation, and broad bandwidth, which provide a new pathway for designing multifunctional vortex devices with promising applications.

The primary noise sources of the vehicle are the engine, exhaust, aeroacoustic noise, and tire–pavement interaction. Noise generated by the first three factors can be reduced by replacing the combustion engine with an electric motor and optimizing aerodynamic design. Currently, a dominant noise within automobiles occurs from the tire–pavement interaction over a speed of 70–80 km/h. Most noise suppression efforts aim to use sound absorbers and cavity resonators to narrow the bandwidth of acoustic frequencies using foams. We demonstrate a technique utilizing acoustic metasurfaces (AMSes) with high reflective characteristics using relatively lightweight materials for noise reduction without any change in mechanical strength or weight of the tire. A simple technique is demonstrated that utilizes acoustic metalayers with high reflective characteristics using relatively lightweight materials for noise reduction without any change in mechanical strength or weight of the tire. The proposed design can significantly reduce the noise arising from tire–pavement interaction over a broadband of acoustic frequencies under 1000 Hz and over a wide range of vehicle speeds using a negative effective dynamic mass density approach. The experiment demonstrated that the sound transmission loss of AMSes is 2–5 dB larger than the acoustic foam near the cavity mode, at 200–300 Hz. The proposed approach can be extended to the generalized area of acoustic and vibration isolation.

Acoustic metasurfaces are at the frontier of acoustic functional material research owing to their advanced capabilities of wave manipulation at an acoustically vanishing size. Despite significant progress in the last decade, conventional acoustic metasurfaces are still fundamentally limited by their underlying physics and design principles. First, conventional metasurfaces assume that unit cells are decoupled and therefore treat them individually during the design process. Owing to diffraction, however, the non-locality of the wave field could strongly affect the efficiency and even alter the behavior of acoustic metasurfaces. Additionally, conventional acoustic metasurfaces operate by modulating the phase and are typically treated as lossless systems. Due to the narrow regions in acoustic metasurfaces' subwavelength unit cells, however, losses are naturally present and could compromise the performance of acoustic metasurfaces. While the conventional wisdom is to minimize these effects, a counter-intuitive way of thinking has emerged, which is to harness the non-locality as well as loss for enhanced acoustic metasurface functionality. This has led to a new generation of acoustic metasurface design paradigm that is empowered by non-locality and non-Hermicity, providing new routes for controlling sound using the acoustic version of 2D materials. This review details the progress of non-local and non-Hermitian acoustic metasurfaces, providing an overview of the recent acoustic metasurface designs and discussing the critical role of non-locality and loss in acoustic metasurfaces. We further outline the synergy between non-locality and non-Hermiticity, and delineate the potential of using non-local and non-Hermitian acoustic metasurfaces as a new platform for investigating exceptional points, the hallmark of non-Hermitian physics. Finally, the current challenges and future outlook for this burgeoning field are discussed., (© 2023 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Abstract: Acoustic metasurfaces that can manipulate and control sound waves at 2D subwavelength scales open new avenues to unusual applications, such as asymmetric transmission, super‐resolution imaging, and particle manipulation. However, the long‐standing goals of pushing frontier metamaterials research into real practice are still severely constrained by cumbersome configuration, large acoustic loss, and rigid structure of the existing metamaterials. An ultrathin metasurface (10–300 µm in thickness, up to ≈λ/650, λ the wavelength) that is capable of imparting sound wave with a nontrivial phase shift with high transmittance (>80%) in the range of 5–30 kHz is fabricated here. The metasurface is comprised of a porous network of soft polymer fiber/rigid beads that are physically equivalent to crosslinked spring‐mass resonators. Moreover, the traditional paper‐cutting art to carve the ultrathin metasurface into hollow‐out patterns is incorporated, resulting in a variety of remarkable functions, including acoustic vortex, focusing, and super‐resolution. The hollow‐out patterning approach innovates the traditional one‐step metadevice fabrication process into two separated steps: 1) fabrication of ultrathin metasurfaces; 2) hollow‐out patterning of metasurfaces. The strategy opens an avenue to mass production of acoustic metadevices, shedding light on the applications of the metamaterials in acoustic cloaking, acoustic positioning, and particle manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposed ultra-thin holography manipulates the propagation behavior of acoustic waves only through the interaction between acoustic waves themselves rather than between acoustic waves and material structures. Ultrathin Acoustic Holography (Adv. Keywords: acoustic metasurfaces; holographic imaging; nonlocal coupling; ultrathin EN acoustic metasurfaces holographic imaging nonlocal coupling ultrathin 1 1 1 03/17/23 20230315 NES 230315 B Ultra-Thin Acoustic Holography b In article number 2300034, Xin Li, Xin-Ye Zou, Xue-Feng Zhu, and colleagues present a powerful methodology of ultra-thin acoustic holography theoretically and experimentally, which is applicable in diverse media including air and water. [Extracted from the article]

Acoustic metasurfaces offer unique capabilities to steer and direct acoustic fields, though these are generally composed of complex 3D structures, complicating their fabrication and applicability to higher frequencies. Here, an ultrathin metasurface approach is demonstrated, wherein planarized micropillars in a discretized phase array are utilized. This subwavelength metasurface is easily produced via a single-step etching process and is suitable for megahertz-scale applications. The flexibility of this approach is further demonstrated in the production of complex acoustic patterns via acoustic holography. This metasurface approach, with models used to predict their behavior, has broad potential in applications where robust, high-frequency acoustic manipulation is required, including microfluidics, cell/tissue engineering, and medical ultrasound., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Acoustic absorbers based on resonant cavities or porous materials have been extensively investigated for developing acoustic liners but still suffer from narrow working frequency bands or bulky sizes. Here, we present a meta-liner capable of high-efficiency and broadband sound attenuation via the causality-governed minimal thickness, which utilizes the coherent couplings among the resonant structures and porous materials to enhance the absorption efficiency. The meta-liner consists of a series of parallel-coupled neck-embedded Helmholtz resonators (NEHRs) and a micro-perforated panel (MPP) backed with a metal-foam-filled gap. In constructing the meta-liner, the metal foam plays an essential role in achieving the over-damped condition and the suppression of impedance oscillation, which therefore facilitates the realization of the minimum thickness and the consistently-high absorption avoiding absorption dips. Distinct from the design methods employed in previous studies that take deficient consideration of the effect of high-order acoustic waves, this work introduces the acoustic grating diffraction theory to comprehensively modulate the coupling effects of meta-liners' components from fundamental and high-order waves, which enables more precise modulation of meta-liners and leads to improve absorption performance in practice. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, we theoretically designed and experimentally validated a meta-liner supporting unanimously high-efficiency sound absorption from 800 Hz to 3200 Hz with a thickness of only 40 mm. Our work enriches the design concepts of acoustic liners and provides an efficient pathway to construct broadband meta-liners against absorption dips via the causality-governed thinnest structures, which may benefit the applications in noise-control engineering and impedance engineering. [Display omitted] • The meta-liner achieves high-efficiency sound absorption via a thin structure. • Metal foam optimizes intrinsic losses based on the causality-governed condition. • The theoretical model modulates high-order couplings of meta-liners. • The coupling effects among meta-liner's components of dominants in the absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By combining the finite element method of thermoviscous acoustics and the temporal linear stability theory, a computational method (hereinafter referred to as FEM-LST) is proposed to predict the ultrasonically suppressive behavior of acoustic metasurfaces, especially for the ones with non-uniform cross sections. The impedance boundary condition is obtained from the FEM and then applied in the LST. The given number of collocation points and mesh configuration are verified through the dependency tests. In addition, the FEM-LST method shows its advantage in terms of convergence rate and is validated by the comparison with the direct numerical simulation data for the slot metasurface in the literature. Following the same base flow condition, more calculation examples are presented for a series of acoustic metasurfaces, including the slot, the v-slot, and the Helmholtz Resonator. The results indicate that the second mode growth rate evidently depends on both impedance magnitude and phase. For the slot metasurface, the local minimum of second mode growth rate mainly caused by phase cancellation is captured. The v-slot metasurface is found to be safe from the resonant mode near the corners over the range of cavity depth we considered. The region in which low growth rates occur is favorably broadened for the HR metasurface. Finally, from the disturbance field of second mode, it appears that the acoustic metasurfaces suppress the second mode in a way of decentralizing its energy content. Overall, the present work shows the capability of our FEM-LST method in predicting the ultrasonically suppressive behavior of acoustic metasurfaces. • A FEM-LST method is proposed to predict the ultrasonically suppressive behavior. • The dependency tests, convergence rate analysis, and validation are performed. • The metasurfaces with non-uniform cross sections are especially investigated. • Local minimum of second mode growth rate is captured for the slot. • The v-slot is found to be safe from the resonant mode. • The region in which low growth rates occur is favorably broadened for the HR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex beams have a typical characteristic of orbital angular momentum, which provides a new degree of freedom for information processing in remote communication and a form of non-contact manipulation for trapping particles. In acoustics, vortex beams are generally observed on the surface of a metamaterial structure or in a waveguide with a hard boundary owing to the characteristic of easy diffusion in free space. The realization of an acoustic vortex beam with a long-distance propagation in free space still remains a challenge. To overcome this, we report a type of acoustic Bessel vortex (ABV) beam created by a quasi-three-dimensional reflected metasurface in free space based on phase modulation. By using the Bessel and vortex phase profiles, we can realize an ABV beam with the high performances of both Bessel and vortex beams, and its effective propagation distance is larger than 9.2λ in free space. Beyond that, we discuss the bandwidth and topological charge of the ABV beam in detail, and the fractional bandwidth can reach about 0.28. The proposed ABV beam has the advantages of a high-performance vortex, long-distance propagation, and broad bandwidth, which provide a new pathway for designing multifunctional vortex devices with promising applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary noise sources of the vehicle are the engine, exhaust, aeroacoustic noise, and tire–pavement interaction. Noise generated by the first three factors can be reduced by replacing the combustion engine with an electric motor and optimizing aerodynamic design. Currently, a dominant noise within automobiles occurs from the tire–pavement interaction over a speed of 70–80 km/h. Most noise suppression efforts aim to use sound absorbers and cavity resonators to narrow the bandwidth of acoustic frequencies using foams. We demonstrate a technique utilizing acoustic metasurfaces (AMSes) with high reflective characteristics using relatively lightweight materials for noise reduction without any change in mechanical strength or weight of the tire. A simple technique is demonstrated that utilizes acoustic metalayers with high reflective characteristics using relatively lightweight materials for noise reduction without any change in mechanical strength or weight of the tire. The proposed design can significantly reduce the noise arising from tire–pavement interaction over a broadband of acoustic frequencies under 1000 Hz and over a wide range of vehicle speeds using a negative effective dynamic mass density approach. The experiment demonstrated that the sound transmission loss of AMSes is 2–5 dB larger than the acoustic foam near the cavity mode, at 200–300 Hz. The proposed approach can be extended to the generalized area of acoustic and vibration isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]