Pressure-Independent Acoustic-Vortex Communication With Enhanced-Capacity and Cryptographic Information by Free-Flooded Metasurfaces

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pressure-Independent Acoustic-Vortex Communication With Enhanced-Capacity and Cryptographic Information by Free-Flooded Metasurfaces

AU - Ren, Zhiwen

AU - He, Xudong

AU - Dong, Hao Wen

AU - Chen, Mingji

AU - Fang, Daining

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

PY - 2026/6/17

Y1 - 2026/6/17

N2 - Structured vortex beams have driven significant advances in multiplexing communication technologies and have been demonstrated experimentally in optics, electromagnetics, and airborne acoustics. However, the strong vibroacoustic coupling and high hydrostatic pressure hamper the experimental enhancement of acoustic information capacity in underwater communication via passively modulating coaxial beams. Here, we report the experimental realization of simultaneous information capacity enhancement and hybrid physical-computational camouflage in underwater free-space pressure-independent acoustic-vortex communication. Two inverse-designed free-flooded metasurfaces, with hydrostatically resilient stability and customized wave scattering characteristics, synthesize and demodulate experimentally coaxial vortex beams of different topological charges, enabling physically encrypted, port-to-port information transfer. A computational-mask encryption scheme further digitally conceals a plaintext image within two ciphertext bitstreams. Transmission of these ciphertexts through the synthesized hetero-order vortex beams experimentally confirms physical-computational anti-eavesdropping capabilities of the system. Our research charts an unprecedented path toward high-capacity, highly secure underwater acoustic communication technologies in the deep ocean.

AB - Structured vortex beams have driven significant advances in multiplexing communication technologies and have been demonstrated experimentally in optics, electromagnetics, and airborne acoustics. However, the strong vibroacoustic coupling and high hydrostatic pressure hamper the experimental enhancement of acoustic information capacity in underwater communication via passively modulating coaxial beams. Here, we report the experimental realization of simultaneous information capacity enhancement and hybrid physical-computational camouflage in underwater free-space pressure-independent acoustic-vortex communication. Two inverse-designed free-flooded metasurfaces, with hydrostatically resilient stability and customized wave scattering characteristics, synthesize and demodulate experimentally coaxial vortex beams of different topological charges, enabling physically encrypted, port-to-port information transfer. A computational-mask encryption scheme further digitally conceals a plaintext image within two ciphertext bitstreams. Transmission of these ciphertexts through the synthesized hetero-order vortex beams experimentally confirms physical-computational anti-eavesdropping capabilities of the system. Our research charts an unprecedented path toward high-capacity, highly secure underwater acoustic communication technologies in the deep ocean.

KW - hydrostatic pressure

KW - metasurfaces

KW - underwater acoustic communication

KW - vortex waves

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105029553067

U2 - 10.1002/adma.202521718

DO - 10.1002/adma.202521718

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105029553067

SN - 0935-9648

VL - 38

JO - Advanced Materials

JF - Advanced Materials

IS - 34

M1 - e21718

ER -