Observation of Ferroelectric Programmability in 3D Printed Metamaterials

Abstract

AbstractArchitected materials can break the limit of what is possible compared to natural materials, however, once fabricated they retain fixed properties. A growing trend in research is devoted to materials with properties that can be tuned post fabrication in a programmable manner. Such tunability can be achieved through magnetic, electric, or thermal stimuli to responsive elements within the metamaterial's architecture. In this paper, the first experimental demonstration of ferroelectric programmability of 3D printed polymeric metamaterials is presented to control elastic waves using electrical poling. Electrical poling effects are harnessed to change the mechanical properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). The poling‐induced softening is utilized to reverse metamaterials behavior from attenuating waves to propagating them and vice versa. The utility of the proposed platform is demonstrated to program a desired set of pixels within the metamaterials to open a path for waves to propagate in a waveguide. The findings introduce a methodology for elastic wave guiding by electrical poling, which can open the door for numerous applications in various fields such as vibration isolation, wave guiding, and energy harvesting.