UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An international research collaboration led by Penn State used an acoustic honeycomb lattice to investigate how intentional defects may help stabilize certain systems. Using cylindrical cavities to represent atoms, the researchers created a defect by removing a section of honeycomb, acoustically excited the lattice with speakers and measured its acoustic response with a microphone.
The researchers theorized and experimentally demonstrated that the center of the defect traps energy modes at a “privileged frequency,” according to principal investigator Yun Jing, associate professor of acoustics and of biomedical engineering at Penn State. This means the energy is as protected as possible against any perturbations that could potentially change or collapse the system. Jing said the acoustic lattice platform provides a novel tool that could be applied beyond acoustics to test and build controlled applications with electromagnetic waves or quantum systems in condensed matter physics. The team published its results in Physical Review Letters.