Experimental validation of anomalous acoustic wave refraction using Double layered acoustic gratings

Acoustic metasurfaces (AMSs) have garnered increasing attention over the past decade due to their remarkable capability for wave manipulation. AMSs have been widely applied in diverse domains, including anomalous refraction and extraordinary sound absorption/isolation, among others. However, typical AMS designs, such as Helmholtz resonator-like or labyrinthine structures, are often geometrically complex, limiting their practical usability. In this paper, we introduce an ultracompact Double Layered Acoustic Grating (DLAG) to achieve anomalous acoustic wave refraction. The DLAG comprises double-layered rigid panels with multiple perforated subwavelength slits. By optimizing the positions of these slits on the rigid panels, the acoustic energy of an obliquely incident plane wave can be concentrated within a predetermined region in an arbitrary direction. The paper will first review the theoretical background to predict the wave propagation controlled by DLAGs based on the surface coupling approach. Subsequently, the underlying principle to achieve anomalous refraction using DLAGs will be discussed. A 3D-printed DLAG with the optimized slit positions is used for demonstration. In the experiment, the acoustic energy of a plane wave with an incident angle of 36 degrees was successfully collimated within a predetermined focusing region with a negative refracted angle of -36 degrees.