Microfabricated phononic crystal devices and applications

Phononic crystals are the acoustic wave analogue of photonic crystals. Here a periodic array of scattering inclusions located in a homogeneous host material forbids certain ranges of acoustic frequencies from existence within the crystal, thus creating what are known as acoustic bandgaps. The majority of previously reported phononic crystal devices have been constructed by hand, assembling scattering inclusions in a viscoelastic medium, predominantly air, water or epoxy, resulting in large structures limited to frequencies below 1 MHz. Recently, phononic crystals and devices have been scaled to VHF (30-300 MHz) frequencies and beyond by utilizing microfabrication and micromachining technologies. This paper reviews recent developments in the area of micro-phononic crystals including design techniques, material considerations, microfabrication processes, characterization methods and reported device structures. Micro-phononic crystal devices realized in low-loss solid materials are emphasized along with their potential application in radio frequency communications and acoustic imaging for medical ultrasound and nondestructive testing. The reported advances in batch micro-phononic crystal fabrication and simplified testing promise not only the deployment of phononic crystals in a number of commercial applications but also greater experimentation on a wide variety of phononic crystal structures.