Perfect and broadband acoustic absorption by critical coupling

Abstract: We experimentally and analytically report broadband and narrowband perfect absorption in two different acoustic waveguide-resonator geometries by the mechanism of critical coupling. In the first geometry the resonator (a Helmholtz resonator) is side-loaded to the waveguide and it has a moderate quality factor. In the second geometry the resonator (a viscoelastic porous plate) is in-line loaded and it contains two resonant modes with low quality factor. The interplay between the energy leakage of the resonant modes into the waveguide and the inherent losses of the system reveals a perfect and a broadband nearly perfect absorption. The results shown in this work can motivate relevant research for the design of broadband perfect absorbers in other domains of wave physics.