RF, Digital Radio, and Metamaterials

Final Project: Nonreciprocal Acoustics

Ryan Hill
Email: rhill55@uncc.edu

Abstract— In this report, the final project : Nonreciprocal
Acoustics, the fundamental topics of nonreciprocal acoustics are
explored. Those topics include reciprocity, symmetry, isolators,
and circulators.
I. INTRODUCTION
Reciprocity is a fundamental property of wave propagation
between two points in classical mediums. In our everyday
lives, the property of reciprocity is so basic and fundamental
to wave propagation in a classical medium that it is assumed
to always be true [1]. An example of acoustic reciprocity is
when we assume someone can hear us through a barrier, such
as a door or a wall, because we can hear them [1]. Under
reciprocity, a wave propagating from a source to an observer
is equally able to propagate the opposite path, from the
observer to the source, with symmetric wave transmission (no
change in transmission) [1-2]. In terms of signal processing, a
wave propagating under reciprocity is symmetric under time
reversal.
Although reciprocity is a fundamental property of wave
propagation in classical mediums, it is not always desirable. In
some cases, it is desirable to break reciprocity to isolate a
wave from propagating in one direction. In the field of
electromagnetics, there are several methods for achieving non-
reciprocity, but the most popular method is magnetic biasing
[2]. Nonreciprocal acoustic wave propagation has been based
mostly on nonlinear mechanisms that introduce undesirable
signal distortion and signal amplitude limitations. There have
been recent achievements in creating unidirectional wave
propagation in linear media, but they rely on strictly
symmetric devices and therefore, completely reciprocal [2]. A
completely reciprocal wave doesn’t attain the desirable
property of a non-symmetric wave transmission, but there are
methods for breaking reciprocity in linear medias. In linear
media, nonreciprocal acoustic wave propagation can occur by
using magneto-acoustic effects or moving fluids [2].
The most popular method of creating a nonreciprocal
electromagnetic wave is using a static magnetic field as a bias.
The static magnetic bias splits the energy levels of the counter-
circulating electronic orbitals, as seen in figure 1 [2]. For
acoustic waves there is an analogous phenomenon using
moving fluids to bias the acoustic wave inside a circulator.
II. THEORY
Figure 2: An isolator in 2a and a circulator in 2b.
Isolators are two port devices, as shown in figure 2a, that only
allow transmission in one direction [1]. A circulator is a three
port network that are combination of three isolators, as seen in
figure 2b [1].
(maybe add some on reciprocal, a little addion to the
introduction) (talk about the device construction)
The device operates as a sound splitter when the fluid is not
being biased (circulated), which splits [divide] the input power
evenly between the two output ports.
In the case, when the device [structure] is excited from port 1
with a frequency w and the signal enters the circular cavity.
**The signal follows closed paths in opposite directions around
the circular cavity, where the length, l, is equal to the average
circumference of the cavity.
**When the signal passes by an output port, a small part of the
signal leaks into the output waveguide, but to [achieve
significant transmission] there has to be constructive
interference.
**The constructive interference occurs when [math] , which
[provides the resonant frequencies of the cavity modes.
****The above condition leads to constructive interference for
each of the modes individually,
****while different modes appear at the output ports with a
phase difference of
There is a reflection at the input port due to the phase mismatch
which is equal to 1/9 of the incident power.

Figure 3: The acoustic circulator that biases through

circulating fluid.

***The fluid in the cavity starts rotating with a velocity v in the

right handed direction
>>The incident signal has a velocity of w+v and w-v for the
split path around the circular cavity
**Due to the doppler effect, the signals propagating in the left
and right handed directions are shifted by -wv/c and wv/c
***Therefore, the right and left handed modes of the waves
have been up shifted or down shifted by w0*v/c, with respect
to the static cavity resonance w0
-----
*** This leads to unity transmission at one port and perfect
isolation at the other. For rotation in the right handed
directipon, unitary, zero transmision for ports 3 and 2
respectively 
Mention how the power flows in the direction opposite the
cavity bias flow and thus, not a result of the circulation simple
“draggin” the acoustic wave but from wave interference
phenomenon
Due to coupled mode theory, maximium difference in
transmission between different output ports occurs when
v=c/(2Qsqrt(3))
REFERENCES
[1] FRDM-K64F Freedom Module User’s Guide. [Online]. Available:
http://cache.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/user_guide/FRDMK64FUG.pd
fh
[2] T.P. Weldon, J.M.C. Covington III, K.L. Smith, and R.S. Adams
``Performance of Digital Discrete-Time Imp