Multifunctional One-dimensional Phononic Crystal Structures Exploiting Interfacial Acoustic Waves

The present study demonstrates that interfacial acoustic waves can be excited at the interface between two phononic crystals. The interfacial wave existing between two phononic crystals is the counterpart of the surface electromagnetic wave existing between two photonic crystals. While past works on phononic crystals exploit the unique bandgap phenomenon in periodic structures, the present work employs the Bloch wave in the stop band to excite interfacial waves that propagate along the interface and decay away from the interface. As a result, the proposed structure can be used as a wave filter as well as a thermal barrier. In wave filter design, for instance, the incident mechanical wave energy can be guided by the interfacial wave to the lateral direction; thus, its propagation into the depth is inhibited. Similarly, in thermal barrier design, incident phonons can be coupled with the interfacial acoustic wave, and the heat will be localized and eventually dissipated at the interface between two phononic crystals. Consequently, the thermal conductivity in the direction normal to the layers can be greatly reduced. The advantage of using two phononic crystals is that the interfacial wave can be excited even at normal incidence, which is critical in many engineering applications. Since the proposed concept is based on a one-dimensional periodic structure, the analysis, design, and fabrication are relatively simple compared to other higher dimensional material designs.