Signal manipulation via dynamic dispersion tuning through a flat band in a phononic metamaterial

The ability to trap and manipulate a signal is crucial for technologies ranging from sensors to computing devices. In this talk, we will demonstrate how to stop and reverse a sound pulse in a new class of programmable metamaterials. We show that this functionality is enabled by tuning the dispersion relation of a periodic metamaterial in real-time, a mechanism we term dynamic dispersion tuning. The necessary change in dispersion is achieved by the change in sign of an effective coupling between fundamental modes, which generically leads to a nearly dispersionless, or flat, band at the transition point. We show how adiabatic tuning of the band dispersion can immobilize and reverse the propagation of a sound pulse in simulations of a one-dimensional resonator chain.