Experimental observation of both negative and positive phase velocities in a two-dimensional sonic crystal

Both negative and positive phase velocities for acoustic waves have been experimentally established in a two-dimensional triangular sonic crystal (SC) consisting of steel cylinders embedded in air at first. With the increase of the SCs thickness layer by layer in the experiments, phase shifts decrease in the second band but increase in the first band, showing the negative and the positive phase velocities, respectively. Moreover, the dispersion relation of the SC is constructed by the phase information, which is consistent well with the theoretical results. These abundant characteristics of acoustic wave propagation in the SC might be useful for the device applications.