Acoustic analogues of three-dimensional topological insulators

Cheng He (), Hua-Shan Lai, Bo He, Si-Yuan Yu, Xiangyuan Xu, Ming-Hui Lu and Yan-Feng Chen ()
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Cheng He: Nanjing University
Hua-Shan Lai: Nanjing University
Bo He: Nanjing University
Si-Yuan Yu: Nanjing University
Xiangyuan Xu: Nanjing University
Ming-Hui Lu: Nanjing University
Yan-Feng Chen: Nanjing University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Topological insulators (TIs) can host an insulating gapped bulk with conducting gapless boundary states in lower dimensions than the bulk. To date, various kinds of classical wave TIs with gapless symmetry-protected boundary states have been discovered, promising for the efficient confinement and robust guiding of waves. However, for airborne sound, an acoustic analogue of a three-dimensional TI has not been achieved due to its spinless nature. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a three-dimensional topological acoustic crystal with pseudospins using bilayer chiral structures, in which multi-order topological bandgaps are generated step by step via elaborately manipulating the corresponding spatial symmetries. We observe acoustic analogues of 1st-order (two-dimensional gapless surface Dirac cones) and 2nd-order (one-dimensional gapless hinge Dirac dispersion) TIs in three dimensions, supporting robust surface or hinge sound transport. Based solely on spatial symmetry, our work provides a route to engineer the hierarchies of TIs and explore topological devices for three-dimensional spinless systems.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16131-w

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