Recently, a collaborative research team led by Professor Zhu Jie from the School of Physical Science and Engineering at Tongji University, in partnership with Assistant Professor Gao He from the School of Advanced Manufacturing at Nanjing University, and Assistant Professor Xue Haoran from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has achieved a notable breakthrough in the realm of non-Hermitian topological acoustics and wave transport control. Their findings, encapsulated in the study titled 'Realization of Dissipation-Enhanced Topological Valley Transport in Phononic Crystals', have been published in the esteemed journal Physical Review Letters.

The research team effectively curbed inter-channel mode hybridization by strategically introducing spatially non-uniform dissipation into adjacent topological valley channels. This approach led to the gradual closure of the original hybridization bandgap. Specifically, when dissipation was introduced solely in one channel, the mode hybridization between channels was significantly suppressed. As dissipation levels increased, the hybridization bandgap progressively narrowed and eventually closed. Concurrently, the propagation attenuation in the dissipation-free channel markedly decreased, resulting in a counterintuitive enhancement of transport due to dissipation.

Experimental evidence supported these observations, revealing that as dissipation intensified, the acoustic pressure response within the original hybridization bandgap improved noticeably. The interrupted interface state dispersion was restored, and sound waves became more concentrated in the dissipation-free channel, enabling them to propagate further. This achievement uncovers a novel mechanism through which dissipation transitions from a loss factor to a regulatory tool within wave systems. It offers fresh perspectives for the development of topological waveguide devices characterized by low crosstalk, reconfigurability, and high integration.