Giant acoustic stop bands in two-dimensional periodic arrays of liquid cylinders

• Published in: Applied physics letters Vol. 69; no. 1; pp. 31 - 33
• Main Authors: Kushwaha, M. S., Halevi, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-07-1996
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/1.118108

Periodic binary systems can give rise to complete acoustic band gaps (i.e., stop bands) within which sound and vibrations are forbidden. We compute the band structure for two-dimensional (2D) periodic arrays of long water cylinders surrounded by mercury host. Complete acoustic stop bands are found for both square and hexagonal lattices. We emphasize that such a simple 2D inhomogeneous system of liquids exhibits the widest stop bands ever reported for elastic as well as dielectric composites. We find gap/midgap ratios as high as ∼1. For mercury cylinders surrounded by water the gaps obtained are much smaller.