Acoustic focusing and imaging via phononic crystal and acoustic metamaterials

The effective operation of certain electronic, medical, industrial, and testing equipment relies on high-quality focusing and imaging capability, which also plays a vital role in the field of wave physics. Therefore, continuously improving the resolution capacity is essential. However, in a homogeneous medium dominated by the diffraction limit, the best resolution for wave focusing and imaging could only reach half the wavelength corresponding to the lowest operating frequency, significantly hindering the relevant application value. The development of phononic crystals (PCs) and acoustic metamaterials (AMMs) has realized sub-wavelength focusing and super-resolution imaging and attracted increasing research attention in physics, mechanics, engineering, and biomedical science. This Tutorial explained the basic principles and traditional methods of acoustic focusing and imaging. Then, the implementation principles and related research progress of sub-wavelength focusing and super-resolution imaging based on artificial acoustic devices, including but not limited to PCs and AMMs, were systematically discussed. Moreover, a method was introduced to realize sub-wavelength or sub-diffraction focusing by integrating these artificial devices into the time-reversal procedure. Finally, the potential development trends and practical application prospects were presented.