Propagation of shear elastic and electromagnetic waves in one dimensional piezoelectric and piezomagnetic composites

•Propagation of waves in 1D PE/PM composite are investigated.•The derived dispersion relation is based on the full dynamic Maxwell equations.•Strong phonon-polariton interaction is revealed.•The phonon-polariton is sensitive to the piezomagnetic effect.

Coupled shear (SH) elastic and electromagnetic (EM) waves propagating oblique to a one dimensional periodic piezoelectric and piezomagnetic composite are investigated using the transfer matrix method. Closed-form expression of the dispersion relations is derived. We find that the band structures of the periodic composite show simultaneously the features of phononic and photonic crystals. Strong interaction between the elastic and EM waves near the center of the Brillouin zone (i.e., phonon-polariton) is revealed. It is shown the elastic branch of the band structures is more sensitive to the piezoelectric effect while the phonon-polariton is more sensitive to the piezomagnetic effect of the composite.