Bound states in the continuum for antisymmetric lamb modes in composite plates made of isotropic materials

Abstract

In this study, we report a numerical design and observation of bound states in the continuum (BICs) for Lamb waves. BICs for elastic-wave systems, especially in non-periodic configurations, are difficult to obtain due to their intricate polarization states. However, the study in this matter has become very important, especially in the field of opto-mechanics or other multi-field couplings at micro or nanoscales. To illustrate the design concept, we simulate the introduction of a piece of silica (SiO₂) into a thin infinite Si plate and show that, for specific aspect ratios, BICs for elastic waves can be predicted. We present numerical results for both two-dimensional (2D) rectangular plates and three-dimensional (3D) disk structures. Moreover, we also investigate the modal contributions of both the background and inclusion media during the occurrence of BICs, further verifying the physical background of our design strategy. Although we have focused our work on asymmetric Lamb modes, the current method can also be applied to construct other types of elastic-wave BICs, providing a powerful tool for metamaterial device prototyping based on the control or guiding of elastic waves.