Frequency multiplexing with dispersion-engineered elastic metasurfaces

Area of Science:

• Solid mechanics
• Metamaterials science
• Wave physics

Background:

• Distinguishing elastic wave frequencies is crucial for mechanical system stability.
• Conventional elastic metasurfaces often require extensive libraries or complex optimization.
• A passive framework for multiplexing elastic wave information is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a frequency-multiplexed elastic metasurface using dispersion engineering.
• To enable frequency-selective wavefront tailoring.
• To develop a passive design methodology for elastic metasurfaces.

Main Methods:

• Utilized dispersion engineering to create a frequency-multiplexed elastic metasurface.
• Derived meta-atom phase profiles from Kirchhoff-Love plate theory, controlled by plate thickness.
• Integrated the metasurface with a piezoelectric element for energy conversion.

Main Results:

• The metasurface successfully multiplexes frequency-dependent phase profiles for wavefront tailoring.
• Plate thickness alone controls phase profiles, simplifying design and eliminating extensive meta-atom libraries.
• Focused elastic energy is converted to an amplified electrical signal, revealing spectral information.

Conclusions:

• Presents the first design methodology for a dispersion-engineered elastic metasurface.
• Overcomes limitations of conventional elastic metasurfaces by encoding multiplex information passively.
• The proposed metasurface can be integrated into plate-based mechanical systems for advanced applications.