Topological acoustics has recently revolutionized fundamental concepts of acoustic propagation, giving rise to strikingly unique acoustic edge modes immune to backscattering. Despite the rapid progress in this field, simultaneous realization of reconfigurability, intelligentization, and automatic control over acoustic propagation paths is posing a great challenge. This challenge is overcome by proposing the concept of a programmable acoustic topological insulator based on two digital elements "0" or "1," which consist of honeycomb-lattice sonic crystals made of cylindrical rods with different diameters. The acoustic propagation paths in the topological insulators can be controlled automatically by programming different coding sequences, which arises from efficient transformation of pseudospin-dependent edge modes on both interfaces of the digital elements. More importantly, a unique unit is experimentally fabricated that has either a "0" or "1" response automatically manipulated by an air cylinder, and design topological insulators with programmable functionality, to realize three digital acoustic devices, such as a single-pole double-throw switch, a single-pole single-throw switch, and a tunable logic gate. The proposed programmable topological insulators may enable future intelligent acoustic devices with exciting reconfigurable and programmable functionalities, which may lead to important advances in various applications, such as integrated acoustics, acoustic security, and information processing.
Keywords: acoustic topological insulators; logic gates; programmable coding devices; pseudospin-dependent edge modes.
© 2018 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.