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1. Graphene-based dual-band independently tunable infrared absorber

   https://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr02525h  

   Sun, Peng; You, Chenglong; Mahigir, Amirreza; Liu, Tongtong; Xia, Feng; Kong, Weijin; Veronis, Georgios; Dowling, Jonathan P.; Dong, Lifeng; Yun, Maojin (January 2018, Nanoscale)

   In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate a dual-band independently tunable absorber consisting of a stacked graphene nanodisk and graphene layer with nanohole structure, and a metal reflector spaced by insulator layers. This structure exhibits a dipole resonance mode in graphene nanodisks and a quadrupole resonance mode in the graphene layer with nanoholes, which results in the enhancement of absorption over a wide range of incident angles for both TE and TM polarizations. The peak absorption wavelength is analyzed in detail for different geometrical parameters and the Fermi energy levels of graphene. The results show that both peaks of the absorber can be tuned dynamically and simultaneously by varying the Fermi energy level of graphene nanodisks and graphene layer with nanoholes structure. In addition, one can also independently tune each resonant frequency by only changing the Fermi energy level of one graphene layer. Such a device could be used as a chemical sensor, detector or multi-band absorber. 

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2. Perfectly Absorbing Exceptional Points and Chiral Absorbers

   Sweeney, W. R.; Hsu, C.W.; Stone, A. D. (March 2019, Physical review letters)

   We identify a new kind of physically realizable exceptional point (EP) corresponding to degenerate coherent perfect absorption, in which two purely incoming solutions of the wave operator for electromagnetic or acoustic waves coalesce to a single state. Such non-Hermitian degeneracies can occur at a real-valued frequency without any associated noise or nonlinearity, in contrast to EPs in lasers. The absorption line shape for the eigenchannel near the EP is quartic in frequency around its maximum in any dimension. In general, for the parameters at which an operator EP occurs, the associated scattering matrix does not have an EP. However, in one dimension, when the S matrix does have a perfectly absorbing EP, it takes on a universal one-parameter form with degenerate values for all scattering coefficients. For absorbing disk resonators, these EPs give rise to chiral absorption: perfect absorption for only one sense of rotation of the input wave. 

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3. Development of a Basilar Membrane-Inspired Mechanical Spectrum Analyzer Using Metastructures for Enhanced Frequency Selectivity

   https://doi.org/10.3390/act14020063  

   Chavan, Shantanu H; Malladi, Vijaya_V_N Sriram (February 2025, Actuators)

   This study introduces a mechanical spectrum analyzer (MSA) inspired by the tonotopic organization of the basilar membrane (BM), designed to achieve two critical features. First, it replicates the traveling-wave behavior of the BM, characterized by energy dissipation without reflections at the boundaries. Second, it enables the physical encoding of the wave energy into distinct spectral components. Moving beyond the conventional focus on metamaterial design, this research investigates wave propagation behavior and energy dissipation within metastructures, with particular attention to how individual unit cells absorb energy. To achieve these objectives, a metastructural design methodology is employed. Experimental characterization of metastructure samples with varying numbers of unit cells is performed, with reflection and absorption coefficients used to quantify energy absorption and assess bandgap quality. Simulations of a basilar membrane-inspired structure incorporating multiple sets of dynamic vibration resonators (DVRs) demonstrate frequency selectivity akin to the natural BM. The design features four types of DVRs, resulting in stepped bandgaps and enabling the MSA to function as a frequency filter. The findings reveal that the proposed MSA effectively achieves frequency-selective wave propagation and broad bandgap performance. The quantitative analysis of energy dissipation, complemented by qualitative demonstrations of wave behavior, highlights the potential of this metastructural approach to enhance frequency selectivity and improve sound processing. These results lay the groundwork for future exploration of 2D metastructures and applications such as energy harvesting and advanced wave filtering. 

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4. Design of a Modified Coupled Resonators Optical Waveguide Supporting a Frozen Mode

   https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2023.3266311  

   Nada, Mohamed Y.; Mealy, Tarek; Islam, Md Shafiqul; Vitebskiy, Ilya; Gibson, Ricky; Bedford, Robert; Boyraz, Ozdal; Capolino, Filippo (April 2023, Journal of Lightwave Technology)

   We design a three-way silicon optical waveguide with the Bloch dispersion relation supporting a stationary inflection point (SIP). The SIP is a third order exceptional point of degeneracy (EPD) where three Bloch modes coalesce forming the frozen mode with greatly enhanced amplitude. The proposed design consists of a coupled resonators optical waveguide (CROW) coupled to a parallel straight waveguide. At any given frequency, this structure supports three pairs of reciprocal Bloch eigenmodes, propagating and/or evanescent. In addition to full-wave simulations, we also employ a so-called “hybrid model” that uses transfer matrices obtained from full-wave simulations of sub-blocks of the unit cell. This allows us to account for radiation losses and enables a design procedure based on minimizing the eigenmodes’ coalescence parameter. The proposed finite-length CROW displays almost unitary transfer function at the SIP resonance, implying a nearly perfect conversion of the input light into the frozen mode. The group delay and the effective quality factor at the SIP resonance show an $N^3$ scaling, where N is the number of unit cells in the cavity. The frozen mode in the CROW can be utilized in various applications like sensors, lasers and optical delay lines. 

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5. Sound vortex diffraction via topological charge in phase gradient metagratings

   https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba9876  

   Fu, Yangyang; Shen, Chen; Zhu, Xiaohui; Li, Junfei; Liu, Youwen; Cummer, Steven A.; Xu, Yadong (October 2020, Science Advances)

   null (Ed.)

   Wave fields with orbital angular momentum (OAM) have been widely investigated in metasurfaces. By engineering acoustic metasurfaces with phase gradient elements, phase twisting is commonly used to obtain acoustic OAM. However, it has limited ability to manipulate sound vortices, and a more powerful mechanism for sound vortex manipulation is strongly desired. Here, we propose the diffraction mechanism to manipulate sound vortices in a cylindrical waveguide with phase gradient metagratings (PGMs). A sound vortex diffraction law is theoretically revealed based on the generalized conservation principle of topological charge. This diffraction law can explain and predict the complicated diffraction phenomena of sound vortices, as confirmed by numerical simulations. To exemplify our findings, we designed and experimentally verified a PGM based on Helmholtz resonators that support asymmetric transmission of sound vortices. Our work provides previously unidentified opportunities for manipulating sound vortices, which can advance more versatile design for OAM-based devices. 

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