![\"Twisting](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/twisting-sound-scienti.jpg\" "\\"Researchers")
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Researchers use twisted surfaces to manipulate mechanical waves, enabling new technologies for imaging, electronics and sensors. Credit: Andrea Al\u00f9<\/p>\n
Scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have discovered a way to control sound and vibrations using a concept inspired by “twistronics,” a phenomenon originally developed for electronics.<\/p>\n
Their research, published in the journal PNAS<\/a>, introduces “twistelastics”\u2014a technique that uses tiny rotations between layers of engineered surfaces to manipulate how mechanical waves travel.<\/p>\n Sound and vibration<\/a> control are essential for technologies like ultrasound imaging, microelectronics, and advanced sensors. Traditionally, these systems rely on fixed designs, limiting flexibility. The new approach allows engineers to reconfigure wave behavior by twisting two layers of engineered surfaces, enabling unprecedented adaptability.<\/p>\n “Our work shows that by simply twisting these two layers, we can achieve extreme control over mechanical waves,” said Andrea Al\u00f9, Einstein and Distinguished Professor of Physics at the CUNY Graduate Center and founding director of the Photonics Initiative at the CUNY ASRC. “This opens the door to new technologies for sensing, communication, and signal processing<\/a>.”<\/p>\n To accomplish their breakthrough, the team combined theory, computer simulations<\/a>, and experiments using 3D-printed prototypes to design special surfaces called metasurfaces, which were patterned with microscopic pillars.<\/p>\n When two identical metasurfaces are stacked and rotated at different angles relative to each other, their combined structure changes the way vibrations spread\u2014switching between different topologies that govern wave direction. At a critical rotation angle, dubbed the “magic angle,” waves become highly focused and guided, opening possibilities for faster, more efficient signal processing.<\/p>\n The introduction of twistelastics will allow for greater control of broadband signals across a wide range of frequencies, and it will enable wave behavior to be quickly adjusted, improving the transmission of information. The new technique will also facilitate the design of systems with greater resistance to glitches due to fabrication imperfections.<\/p>\n Researchers anticipate their breakthrough having applications in medical imaging<\/a>, consumer electronics, and microfluidics. Twistelastics could eventually be miniaturized for chip-scale devices, revolutionizing how we manipulate sound and vibrations in everyday technology.<\/p>\n More information: \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation: \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBroadband topological transitions in twisted elastodynamic metasurfaces, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025). DOI: 10.1073\/pnas.2427049122<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCUNY Advanced Science Research Center<\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwisting sound: Scientists discover a new way to control mechanical vibrations in metamaterial (2025, October 13)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 13 October 2025
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-10-scientists-mechanical-vibrations-metamaterial.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
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