Tunable frequency band structure in photo-responsive elastic metamaterials

An important issue in the field of elastic metamaterials is that their dynamic properties, such as the band gap frequencies, are typically fixed once the structure has been designed and fabricated. To overcome this limitation, many efforts have been made to conceive materials with adaptive elastic properties based on piezoelectric materials, temperature and magneto-based techniques, actuated polymers via electromagnetic waves, as well as the application of an external mechanical load. In the present research we present an alternative approach based on light-responsive polymers. We show the possibility to reversibly change the material parameters in specific regions of the unit cells of these structures through external light stimuli, leading to the tunability of their transmission spectrum.