Anisotropic Swirling Surface Acoustic Waves from Inverse Filtering for On-Chip Generation of Acoustic Vortices

From radio-electronics signal analysis to biological sample actuation, surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are involved in a multitude of modern devices. However, only the most simple standing or progressive waves such as plane and focused waves have been explored so far. In this paper, we expand the SAW toolbox with a wave family named swirling surface acoustic waves which are the 2D anisotropic analogue of bulk acoustic vortices. Similarly to their 3D counterpart, they appear as concentric structures of bright rings with a phase singularity in their center resulting in a central dark spot. After the rigorous mathematical definition of these waves, we synthesize them experimentally through the inverse filtering technique revisited for surface waves. For this purpose, we design a setup combining arrays of interdigitated transducers and a multichannel electronic that enables one to synthesize any prescribed wave field compatible with the anisotropy of the substrate in a region called the acoustic scene. This work opens prospects for the design of integrated acoustic vortex generators for on-chip selective acoustic tweezing.