Li-Yang Zheng

Sun Yat-Sen University | SYSU

We propose a mechanical graphene analog which is made of stainless steel beads placed in a periodic magnetic field by a proper design. A stable, free of mechanical borders granular structure with well-predicted wave dynamics is experimentally constructed. First, we report the dispersion relation in conjunction with the evidence of the Dirac points....

In this work, we experimentally report the acoustic realization of the two-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model in a simple network of air channels. We analytically study the steady-state dynamics of the system using a set of discrete equations for the acoustic pressure, leading to the two-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian matrix witho...

Frontier investigations on a contemporary family of materials comprise a new class of topological materials that have been discovered in three dimensional (3D) semimetallic crystals. Beyond already unconventional topological quasiparticles in Dirac and Weyl semimetals, nodal-line semimetals provide an even richer platform encompassing robust band-t...

Hyperbolic dispersion enables unprecedented abilities for wave-field engineering which so far chiefly has been realized by man-made metamaterials. Recent classical explorations of topological media and semimetals suggest that these exotic structures may enable a novel route toward hyperbolic sound control. Here, we demonstrate that a three-dimensio...

Granular crystals are periodic structures of elastic beads arranged in crystal lattices. One important feature of granular crystals is that the interactions between beads can take place via noncentral contact forces, leading to the propagation of rotational and coupled rotational-translational waves. Here, we theoretically demonstrate the topologic...

Here, we propose an isospectral reduction (IR) approach for the mapping of a trimer Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH3) lattice into a simplified two-site model, whose coupling dynamics ingeniously results in a precise bulk-edge correspondence of the original lattice. The isospectrally-reduced model has inter-cell couplings with dynamic response to the eig...

Band structure and Dirac degeneracy are essential features of sonic crystals/acoustic metamaterials to achieve advanced control of exciting wave effects. In this work, we explore a deep learning approach for the design of phononic crystals with desired dispersion. A plane wave expansion method is utilized to establish the dataset relation between t...

Vertically stacked multiple atomically thin layers have recently widened the landscape of rich optical structures thanks to these quantum metamaterials or van der Waals (vdW) materials, featuring hyperbolic polaritons with unprecedented avenues for light. Despite their far‐reaching implications, most of their properties rest entirely on a trivial b...

One of the hallmark of topological insulators is having conductivity properties that are unaffected by the possible presence of defects. In this work, by going beyond backscattering immunity and topological invisibility across defects or disorder is obtained. Using a combination of chiral and mirror symmetry, the transmission coefficient is guarant...

In recent years, topology has offered an elegant degree of freedom (DOF) for light and sound manipulation. There exists persistent effort to explore the origin of topological phases based on symmetry, while it becomes rather challenging in complex networks or multiple DOF systems where geometric symmetries are not apparent. Here, we demonstrate a l...

One of the hallmark of topological insulators is having conductivity properties that are unaffected by the possible presence of defects. So far, for classical waves in time reversal invariant systems, all attempts to obtain topological modes have not displayed strict immunity to backscattering. Here, we obtain exact perfect transmission across defe...

Topological insulators have taken the condensed matter physics scenery by storm and captivated the interest among scientists and materials engineers alike. Surprisingly, this arena which was initially established and profoundly studied in electronic systems and crystals, has sparked a drive among classical physicists to pursue a wave-based analogy...

As a new class of artificial elastic materials, granular crystals are mechanical structures of elastic beads arranged in contact through a lattice. One important feature of wave dynamics in granular crystals is that it highly relies on the contact mechanics, allowing for exotic wave transport properties such as rotational waves, solitary waves, slo...

Dirac cones are essential features of the electronic band structure of materials like graphene and topological insulators (TIs). Lately, this avenue has found a growing interest in classical wave physics by using engineered artificial lattices. Here, we demonstrate an acoustic 3D honeycomb lattice that features a Dirac hierarchy comprising an eight...

In 1878, Lord Rayleigh observed the highly celebrated phenomenon of sound waves that creep around the curved gallery of St Paul’s Cathedral in London1,2. These whispering-gallery waves scatter efficiently with little diffraction around an enclosure and have since found applications in ultrasonic fatigue and crack testing, and in the optical sensing...

Topological band theory strongly relies on prototypical lattice models with particular symmetries. We report here on a theoretical and experimental work on acoustic waveguides that are directly mapped to the one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model. Starting from the continuous two-dimensional wave equation, we use a combination of monomode appro...

Topological physics strongly relies on prototypical lattice model with particular symmetries. We report here on a theoretical and experimental work on acoustic waveguides that is directly mapped to the one-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chiral model. Starting from the continuous two dimensional wave equation we use a combination of monomadal appr...

Dirac degeneracies are essential ingredients to control topological charge exchanges between bands and trigger the unique edge transport properties of topological materials. In addition, when Dirac cones are tilted, exotic phenomena can emerge such as anomalous Hall effect or unconventional Klein tunneling. However, the unique topological transport...

In this work, we study the propagation of sound waves in a honeycomb waveguide network loaded with Helmholtz resonators (HRs). By using a plane wave approximation in each waveguide we obtain a first-principle modeling of the network, which is an exact mapping to the graphene tight-binding Hamiltonian. We show that additional Dirac points appear in...

In this work, we experimentally report the acoustic realization the two-dimensional (2D) Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model in a simple network of air channels. We analytically study the steady state dynamics of the system using a set of discrete equations for the acoustic pressure, leading to the 2D SSH Hamiltonian matrix without using tight binding...

We propose a mechanical granular graphene obtained by replacing the carbon atoms with macroscopic spherical stainless steel beads in contact. The experimental measured dispersion relation is presented, in conjunction with evidence of the Dirac points. In addition, wave propagation along the zigzag and a robust turning effect of edge waves from the...

Granular crystals are spatially periodic structures of elastic particles arranged in crystal lattices. The interactions between particles take place via their elastic interconnections, which are of much smaller dimensions and weights than the beads. This induces propagation of elastic waves in granular structures at significantly slower velocities...

The existence of surface elastic waves at a mechanically free surface of granular phononic crystals is studied. The granular phononic crystals are made of spherical particles distributed periodically on a simple cubic lattice. It is assumed that the particles are interacting by means of normal, shear, and bending contact rigidities. First, Rayleigh...

Researches on Airy beams have grown explosively since the first demonstration in 2007 due to the distinguishing properties of nondiffraction, transverse acceleration and self-healing. To date, a simple and compact approach for generating Airy beams in high quality and efficiency has remained challenging. Here, we propose and demonstrate a liquid cr...

In this work, acoustic phase-reconstruction is studied and experimentally demonstrated in a triangular lattice two-dimensional phononic crystal (PnC) composed of steel rods in air. Owning to the fact that two bands of this triangular lattice PnC touch at the K/K′ point and thus give rise to a conical Dirac cone, acoustic waves transmitting through...

We numerically realize the acoustic rainbow trapping effect by tapping an air waveguide with space-coiling metamaterials. Due to the high refractive-index of the space-coiling metamaterials, our device is more compact compared to the reported trapped-rainbow devices. A numerical model utilizing effective parameters is also calculated, whose results...

Zero-refractive-index materials may lead to promising applications in various fields. Here, we design and fabricate a near Zero-Refractive-Index (ZRI) material using a phononic crystal (PC) composed of a square array of densely packed square iron rods in air. The dispersion relation exhibits a nearly flat band across the Brillouin zone at the reduc...

Artificial honeycomb lattices with Dirac cone dispersion provide a macroscopic platform to study the massless Dirac quasiparticles and their novel geometric phases. In this paper, a quadruple-degenerate state is achieved at the center of the Brillouin zone in a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice phononic crystal, which is a result of accidental dege...

We design a structure to realize Rabi splitting and Rabi oscillation in acoustics. We develop rigorous analytical models to analyze the splitting effect from the aspect of phase matching, and from the aspect of mode coupling using a coupled mode model. In this model, we discover that the splitting effect is caused by the coupling of the Fabry-Perot...

We present a design for a two-dimensional omnidirectional acoustic absorber that can achieve 98.6% absorption of acoustic waves in water, forming an effective acoustic black hole. This artificial black hole consists of an absorptive core coated with layers of periodically distributed polymer cylinders embedded in water. Effective medium theory desc...