title: Granular acoustic switches and logic elements.
abstract: Electrical flow control devices are fundamental components in electrical appliances and computers; similarly, optical switches are essential in a number of communication, computation and quantum information-processing applications. An acoustic counterpart would use an acoustic (mechanical) signal to control the mechanical energy flow through a solid material. Although earlier research has demonstrated acoustic diodes or circulators, no acoustic switches with wide operational frequency ranges and controllability have been realized. Here we propose and demonstrate an acoustic switch based on a driven chain of spherical particles with a nonlinear contact force. We experimentally and numerically verify that this switching mechanism stems from a combination of nonlinearity and bandgap effects. We also realize the OR and AND acoustic logic elements by exploiting the nonlinear dynamical effects of the granular chain. We anticipate these results to enable the creation of novel acoustic devices for the control of mechanical energy flow in high-performance ultrasonic devices.
authors.affiliation: 1] Graduate Aerospace Laboratories (GALCIT), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA [2] Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-2400, USA.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 1] Graduate Aerospace Laboratories (GALCIT), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA [2] Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anzel
authors.affiliation: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-2400, USA.
authors.forename: Jinkyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-4515, USA.
authors.forename: Panayotis G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Kevrekidis
authors.affiliation: 1] Graduate Aerospace Laboratories (GALCIT), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA [2] Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daraio