Negative refraction of acoustic waves in two-dimensional sonic crystals

Negative refractions of acoustic waves in a two-dimensional (2D) sonic crystal were studied both experimentally and theoretically. By calculating the acoustic band structure and equifrequency surfaces, we theoretically analyzed the acoustic single-beam negative refraction in the first band operating in the ultrasonic regime. A 2D square sonic crystal was constructed with 2.0-mm-diam steel cylinders arranged as square arrays of 2.5 mm lattice constant. A scanning transmission measurement of spatial distribution was carried out to establish the acoustic refraction of a single Gaussian beam. It was demonstrated that the negative refraction is strongly dependent on both frequencies and incident angles, which shows great potential in acoustic devices.