The result is little, but we likewise found circumstances, where the complete energy of the wave leaps throughout the vacuum with 100 % effectiveness, without any reflections. As such, the phenomenon might discover applications in microelectromechanical parts (MEMS, smart device innovation) and in the control of heat, states Professor Ilari Maasilta from the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä.
Reference: “Complete tunneling of acoustic waves between piezoelectric crystals” by Zhuoran Geng and Ilari J. Maasilta, 14 July 2023, Communications Physics.DOI: 10.1038/ s42005-023-01293-y.
The study was funded by the Academy of Finland and the European Unions Horizon 2020 program.
Sound waves tunneling throughout a vacuum gap. Credit: Zhuoran Geng and Ilari Maasilta
The iconic movie Alien once claimed: “In area, nobody can hear you yell.” Physicists Zhuoran Geng and Ilari Maasilta from the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, beg to differ. Their current research study suggests that under particular conditions, noise can certainly be transmitted strongly across a vacuum.
Their findings, released just recently in the journal Communications Physics, expose that in certain situations, sound waves can “tunnel” through a vacuum gap between 2 solid items, supplied those items are piezoelectric. When subjected to sound waves or vibrations, these specific products create an electrical response. Given that an electrical field can be present in a vacuum, it can efficiently bring these sound waves across.
The requirement is that the size of the gap is smaller sized than the wavelength of the acoustic wave. This effect works not just in the audio variety of frequencies (Hz-kHz), however also in ultrasound (MHz) and hypersound (GHz) frequencies, as long as the vacuum gap is made smaller sized as the frequencies increase.