Shear surface waves in phononic crystals.

The existence of shear horizontal (SH) surface waves in two-dimensional periodic phononic crystals with an asymmetric depth-dependent profile is theoretically reported. Examples of dispersion spectra with bandgaps for subsonic and supersonic SH surface waves are demonstrated. The link between the effective (quasistatic) speeds of the SH bulk and surface waves is established. Calculation and analysis is based on the integral form of a projector on the subspace of evanescent modes which means no need for their explicit finding. This method can be extended to the vector waves and the three-dimensional case.