Enhancement of sound in chirped sonic crystals

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel mechanism of sound wave concentration based on soft reflections in chirped sonic crystals. The reported controlled field enhancement occurs at around particular (bright) planes in the crystal, and is related to a progressive slowing down of the sound wave as it propagates along the material. At these bright planes, a substantial concentration of the energy (with a local increase up to 20 times) was obtained for a linear chirp and for frequencies around the first band gap. A simple couple mode theory is proposed, that interprets and estimates the observed effects. The results are obtained for the case of sound waves and sonic crystals, however they are extendable to other type of waves in modulated host matter.