Experimental realization of an active time-modulated airborne acoustic circulator at audible frequencies

Reciprocity is one of the fundamental characteristics of wave propagation in linear time-invariant media with preserved time-reversal symmetry. Breaking reciprocity opens the way to numerous applications in the fields of phononics and photonics, as it allows the unidirectional transport of information and energy carried by waves. In acoustics, achieving non-reciprocal behavior has lead extensive research including active and activated structures, nonlinear media, as well as moving media. In particular, time modulation has shown its efficiency to violate time-reversal symmetry and lead to non-reciprocity. Here, we design and experimentally demonstrate a three-port non-reciprocal acoustic scatterer that behaves as a circulator for audible sound, by actively modulating the effective mass of the acoustic membranes over time. We discuss the conception and experimental validation of such an acoustic circulator, implemented with actively controlled loudspeakers, in the realm of audible and airborne acoustics, and demonstrate its good performance in different scenarios. • Experimental demonstration of an airborne time-modulated acoustic circulator. • Non-reciprocal control of sound waves at audible frequencies. • Synthetic time modulation of the mass of three loudspeakers through active control. • Versatile and easy-to-implement strategy.