Abstract
The negative refraction of acoustic waves in a two-dimensional phononic-crystal slab is studied by numerical simulation based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and by ultrasonic measurement. The incident-angle dependences of energy-transmission efficiency in the simulation and experiment are in good agreement in the frequency range of approximately 1.2 MHz. Using the FDTD method, we optimize the efficiency by varying structural parameters such as filling fraction and slab thickness. The effect of deviation from the ideal crystallinity is also evaluated quantitatively via the simulation. These results indicate that an energetically efficient acoustic lens can be fabricated by carefully optimizing the structure of the phononic crystal.