Topological surface wave metamaterials for robust vibration attenuation and energy harvesting

We propose topological metamaterials working in Hertz frequency range, constituted of concrete pillars on the soil ground in a honeycomb lattice. Based on the analog of the quantum valley Hall effect, a non-trivial bandgap is formed by breaking the inversion symmetry of the unit cell. A topological interface is created between two different crystal phases whose robustness against various defects and disorders is quantitatively analyzed. Finally, we take advantage of the robust and compact topological edge state for designing a harvesting energy device. The results demonstrate the functionality of the proposed structure for both robust surface vibration reduction and energy harvesting.