Plane and Surface Acoustic Waves Manipulation by Three-Dimensional Composite Phononic Pillars with 3D Bandgap and Defect Analysis

The current century witnessed an overwhelming research interest in phononic crystals (PnCs) and acoustic metamaterials (AMs) research owing to their fantastic properties in manipulating acoustic and elastic waves that are inconceivable from naturally occurring materials. Extensive research literature about the dynamical and mechanical properties of acoustic metamaterials currently exists, and this maturing research field is now finding possible industrial and infrastructural applications. The present study proposes a novel 3D composite multilayered phononic pillars capable of inducing two-dimensional and three-dimensional complete bandgaps (BGs). A phononic structure that consisted of silicon and tungsten layers was subjected to both plane and surface acoustic waves in three-dimensional and two-dimensional periodic systems, respectively. By frequency response study, the wave attenuation, trapping/localization, transmission, and defect analysis was carried out for both plane and surface acoustic waves. In the bandgap, the localized defect state was studied for both plane and surface acoustic waves separately. At the defect state, the localization of both plane and surface acoustic waves was observed. By varying the defect size, the localized frequency can be made tailorable. The study is based on a numerical technique, and it is validated by comparison with a reported theoretical work. The findings may provide a new perspective and insight for the designs and applications of three-dimensional phononic crystals for surface acoustic wave and plane wave manipulation, particularly for energy harvesting, sensing, focusing and waves isolation/attenuation purposes.