Spectrum Cascade Bloch Oscillations in Temporally Modulated Acoustics

Abstract: Bloch oscillations (BOs) refer to a periodically oscillatory motion of particle in lattice systems driven by a constant force. By temporally modulating acoustic waveguides, BOs can be generalized from spatial to frequency domain, opening new possibilities for spectrum manipulations. The modulation can induce mode transitions in the waveguide band and form an artificial frequency lattice, with the mismatched wave vector during transitions acting as a constant force that drives frequency Bloch oscillations (FBOs). Furthermore, the modulation phase accompanying transitions serves as a gauge potential that controls the initial oscillation phase, providing an additional degree of freedom to tailor FBOs. We report that multiple FBOs with judiciously designed oscillation phases can be further cascaded to realize acoustic spectrum self-imaging, unidirectional transduction and bandwidth engineering. The study proposes the concept of FBOs in acoustic systems and functionalizes its cascade configurations for advanced control of sound spectrum. This paradigm may find versatile applications in underwater secure communication, voice encryption and signal processing.