Giant elastic-wave asymmetry in a linear passive circulator

Yabin Hu, Yongbo Li, Yongquan Liu (), Bing Li () and Johan Christensen ()
Additional contact information
Yabin Hu: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Yongbo Li: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Yongquan Liu: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Bing Li: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Johan Christensen: 2

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Nonreciprocal transmission of waves is highly desirable for the transport and redistribution of energy. However, building an asymmetric system to break time-reversal symmetry is relatively difficult because it tends to work under stringent guidelines, narrow bandwidth, or external impetus, particularly in a three-port system. Without breaking reciprocity, realizing “one-way” transmission of elastic waves by a linear and passive structure in a higher-dimensional asymmetric system, such as a three-port circulator, poses quite a challenge. Here, based on the wave-vector modulation mechanism, we propose an elastic-wave circulator that achieves this without breaking reciprocity, enabling perfect mode transition and wave trapping simultaneously. Requiring neither activated media nor relying on the nonlinearity of nonreciprocal devices, the circulator routes elastic waves purely in a clockwise direction, offering superior performance in broad bandwidth, robust behavior, and simple configuration. Our study provides a feasible platform for asymmetric wave transport in a three-port system, which can be useful in the routing, isolation, and harvesting of energy and can also be extended to other fields, such as electromagnetic and acoustic waves.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59313-0 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-59313-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59313-0

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().