New Phononic Crystal Might Enable Better Mobile Communications

March 28, 2022 • by Marc Airhart

UT Austin researchers' new acoustic component, made of aluminum nitride and configured into periodic phononic crystals, allows engineers to direct high frequency elastic waves along predefined paths, including sharp turns and splits, without losing signal.

Light colored pattern on a dark orange background. A path zigs from the right to left like a backward letter Z.

Using a microwave microscope, UT Austin researchers visualized elastic waves as they travel right to left, following a Z-shaped boundary in a phononic crystal, without losing energy. The image is approximately 0.1 millimeters high. Credit: Keji Lai/University of Texas at Austin.


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