Experimental verification of the acoustic geometric phase

Optical geometric phase encoded by in-plane spatial orientation of microstructures has promoted the rapid development of numerous functional meta-devices. However, pushing the concept of the geometric phase toward the acoustic community still faces challenges. In this work, we utilize two acoustic nonlocal metagratings that could support a direct conversion between an acoustic plane wave and a designated vortex mode to obtain the acoustic geometric phase, in which an orbital angular momentum conversion process plays a vital role. In addition, we realize the acoustic geometric phases of different orders by merely varying the orientation angle of the acoustic nonlocal metagratings. Intriguingly, according to our developed theory, we reveal that the reflective acoustic geometric phase, which is twice the transmissive one, can be readily realized by transferring the transmitted configuration to a reflected one. Both the theoretical study and experimental measurements verify the announced transmissive and reflective acoustic geometric phases. Moreover, the reconfigurability and continuous phase modulation that covers the 2 pi range shown by the acoustic geometric phases provide us with the alternatives in advanced acoustic wavefront control. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

The acoustic geometric phase is obtained by utilizing acoustic nonlocal metagratings and varying the orientation angle. The reflective acoustic geometric phase is found to be twice the transmissive one. The reconfigurability and continuous phase modulation of the acoustic geometric phases provide alternatives for advanced acoustic wavefront control.