About

Professor Yun Jing is the Principal Investigator at Jing's Lab at Penn State. She earned her Ph.D. in Architectural Acoustics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2009 and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Acoustics from Nanjing University, obtained in 2006. Her research group focuses on various aspects of acoustics and metamaterials, including wave functional materials, elastic metamaterials, acoustic metamaterials and metasurfaces, phononic crystals, biomedical ultrasound, therapeutic ultrasound, ultrasound imaging, and numerical modeling of medical ultrasound. Professor Jing's work integrates these areas to advance the understanding and application of acoustic phenomena in both fundamental and applied contexts, particularly in biomedical ultrasound and acoustic metamaterials.

Research topics

• Physics
• Computer Science
• Acoustics
• Materials science
• Composite material
• Geodesy
• Optics
• Engineering physics
• Geometry
• Aerospace engineering
• Optoelectronics
• Condensed matter physics
• Geology
• Quantum mechanics

Selected publications

• Bionic Composite Structure-Based Self-Noise Suppression Method for Towed Arrays

  Journal of Physics Conference Series · 2026-03-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract This paper addresses the hydrodynamic self-noise issue in towed line arrays induced by turbulent boundary layers at medium-to-high tow speeds, proposing a composite noise reduction method that integrates bionic groove structures with dynamic mucus coatings. Inspired by the microscopic grooves on shark skin and the mucus secretion mechanism of fish, V-shaped grooves with varying geometric parameters were arranged on the array surface to effectively suppress the development of streamwise vortices in the turbulent boundary layer and reduce turbulent pressure fluctuations. Simultaneously, a mucus jet system was deployed upstream of the working section to form a dynamic mucus coating, further enhancing flow field control. Numerical simulations combining Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and acoustic analogy theory, along with experimental validation, were employed to systematically analyze the influence of parameters such as groove width on noise reduction performance. The results demonstrate that grooves with smaller aspect ratios (e.g., a central angle of 4°) achieve significant noise reduction in the 500–2000 Hz frequency band. When combined with mucus jetting, the noise reduction bandwidth is further expanded, and low-frequency peak noise is suppressed. The underlying mechanism primarily stems from the synergistic effects of energy dissipation by secondary vortices within the grooves and the thickening of the viscous sublayer due to the mucus. Experimental results from a gravity-based low-noise water tunnel further verify the effectiveness of this composite method in reducing self-noise sound pressure levels, providing a novel technical approach and theoretical basis for the acoustic stealth design of towed line arrays.

  PublisherDOI

• Designing metamaterials with programmable nonlinear responses and geometric constraints in graph space

  Nature Machine Intelligence · 2025-07-22 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• UltraWave: An Open-Source Multi-GPU Full-Wave Simulator for Acoustic and Elastic Wave Scattering in 3-D Heterogeneous Media

  IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics · 2025-11-25

  articleOpen access

  Fast and accurate three-dimensional (3-D) full-wave ultrasound simulation is critical for applications such as medical imaging, tissue characterization, and synthetic data generation for machine learning. However, computational demands escalate prohibitively at higher resolutions. To address this challenge, we developed UltraWave, an open-source, multi-GPU-accelerated full-wave simulator for acoustic and elastic wave scattering in 3-D heterogeneous media. UltraWave incorporates advanced capabilities including media inhomogeneity, elastic wave propagation, power-law frequency-dependent absorption, and perfectly matched layers. To rigorously validate simulation accuracy, we also developed a companion code suite that computes the scattered waveforms in both time and frequency domains using analytical solutions from scattering theory for several standard scattering scenarios, enabling quantitative benchmarking of numerical simulators and addressing a critical gap in standardized validation tools. We evaluated UltraWave against the widely used k-Wave simulator, and demonstrated its accuracy, computational efficiency, and scalability. For a 3-D elastic scattering simulation, UltraWave achieved equivalent accuracy to k-Wave while reducing the runtime from 8 hours (k-Wave on a single GPU; multi-GPU capability is currently unavailable in k-Wave) to 20 minutes (UltraWave on 4 GPUs). UltraWave offers a powerful and scalable tool for high-resolution wave propagation and scattering simulations in biomedical applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Bridging fidelity gaps in the design of TPMS-based metamaterials using neural networks

  The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2025-04-01

  articleSenior author

  Accurate prediction of wave transmission in architected metamaterials remains challenging due to discrepancies between low-fidelity simulations and high-fidelity experimental measurements. Low-fidelity simulations rely on assumptions about material properties and are further influenced by manufacturing uncertainties and fabrication errors, leading to deviations from measured behaviors. To address this fidelity gap, we propose a novel multi-fidelity learning framework that integrates simulation and experimental data for precise prediction of transmission spectra based on design geometry parameters. Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) lattices are selected as a proof of concept due to their mathematically defined geometries, which allow precise control of structural properties and their influence on vibration transmission. The proposed framework captures the intricate relationship between lattice type, relative density, and transmission response by fusing low-fidelity simulations with high-fidelity experimental data from vibration testing of 3-D-printed samples. Results demonstrate the framework’s ability to predict experimental transmission curves with minimal error across a frequency range of 500 Hz to 12 kHz. This work represents a significant advancement in the predictive modeling of TPMS lattices and establishes a scalable, data-driven methodology for optimizing architected materials in vibration control and beyond.

  PublisherDOI

• Experimentally probing non-Hermitian spectral transition and eigenstate skewness

  Physical review. B./Physical review. B · 2025-11-14 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author

  Probing complex-valued spectra and biorthogonal eigenstates in non-Hermitian systems remains experimentally challenging. The authors present here a Green's function based method that directly measures these fundamental quantities in two-dimensional acoustic lattices. By capturing the full response matrix, they demonstrate eigenstate skewness and geometry-dependent spectral transitions. This universal method overcomes the limits of conventional pump\leavevmode\hbox{-}probe or complex\leavevmode\hbox{-}frequency techniques, providing a robust route for exploring exotic non\leavevmode\hbox{-}Hermitian phenomena across wave\leavevmode\hbox{-}based platforms.

  PublisherDOI

• Numerical Analysis of Transcranial Phase Aberration Correction Techniques

  2025-09-15

  article

  Wavefront aberration in ultrasound imaging arises when the assumption of constant sound speed in tissues is violated, producing phase errors that distort the acoustic beam and degrade image quality. This problem is particularly severe when imaging through strongly aberrating layers, such as the human skull, where the complex geometry and heterogeneous acoustic properties introduce large, spatially varying distortions. Estimating the underlying tissue sound speed enables more effective aberration correction, and recent advances in reconstructing sound speed maps from ultrasound signals have opened new possibilities for distributed correction strategies. However, different aberration correction approaches involve important trade-offs between accuracy, computational cost, and practical feasibility. In this numerical study, we systematically compared three representative correction methods: Eikonal-based travel time estimation, full-wave simulation, and time reversal. Acoustic property maps were derived from micro-CT scans of ex vivo human skulls. A phased array was simulated to focus at 30 mm through the skull, and corrections were applied using the three approaches. Without the skull, the targeted focal depth was achieved with a lateral full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 1.8 mm, whereas with the skull and no correction, the focus shifted and beam quality degraded. All three correction strategies effectively reduced distortion. Eikonal correction restored the focus efficiently (0.5 seconds) but generated higher side lobes and a wider FWHM of 3.1 mm. Full-wave correction provided improved sharpness (FWHM = 2.5 mm) but required longer computation (2 minutes). Time reversal achieved the best focus (FWHM = 1.7 mm) but required complete waveform modification, limiting its experimental practicality. Overall, the results demonstrate clear trade-offs between computational efficiency and correction performance.

  PublisherDOI

• Higher-order skin effect and its observation in an acoustic kagome lattice

  Physical review. B./Physical review. B · 2025-01-23 · 12 citations

  article

  The non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE) is a distinctive topological phenomenon observed in non-Hermitian systems. Recently, there has been considerable interest in exploring higher-order NHSE occurrences in two and three dimensions. In such systems, topological edge states collapse into a corner while bulk states remain delocalized. Through a Hermitian--non-Hermitian correspondence, this study predicts and experimentally observes the higher-order NHSE in an acoustic kagome lattice possessing nonreciprocal hoppings. By rotating the frequency spectrum and employing complex-frequency excitation techniques, we observe the localization of acoustic energy towards a corner of the lattice in the topologically nontrivial phase, even when the source is located far from that corner. In contrast, the acoustic energy spreads out when excited at the frequencies hosting the bulk states. These observations are unequivocal evidence of the higher-order NHSE.

  PublisherDOI

• Accurate and Efficient Modeling of Acoustic and Elastic Absorption in Medical Ultrasound Simulations

  2025-09-15

  article

  Modeling acoustic and elastic absorption is essential for realistic ultrasound simulations, as absorption affects pulse amplitude, spectrum, and penetration depth. In this work, we extended our recently developed open-source multi-graphics processing unit (GPU) full-wave simulator, UltraWave, to support simulations of acoustic and elastic absorption. Acoustic absorption with arbitrary power-law frequency dependence was modeled using optimized relaxation processes. Elastic absorption was modeled through Kelvin-Voigt viscoelasticity, with damping terms derived from compressional and shear absorption coefficients. For acoustic absorption with a power-law exponent of 1.5, the maximum normalized mean absolute error relative to theoretical signals was 0.63%. For elastic absorption with a power-law exponent of 2, the maximum normalized mean absolute difference compared to k-Wave was 0.14%. Additionally, UltraWave demonstrated substantial computational efficiency, requiring only 5 seconds on the same GPU compared to 14 minutes and 40 seconds needed by k-Wave. These results showed that our numerical modeling of acoustic and elastic absorption is accurate and highly efficient.

  PublisherDOI

• From edible mushrooms to sustainable materials: Sound absorption of mycelium-based composites cultivated on spent mushroom substrates

  Applied Acoustics · 2025-08-18 · 2 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Enhanced photo-sono therapy with dual-frequency ultrasound

  APL Bioengineering · 2025-10-30 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Photo-sono therapy (PST) is a cavitation-based anti-vascular and thrombolysis treatment strategy. Compared to conventional high intensity focused ultrasound treatment, PST can selectively treat blood vessels and clots because of optical absorption. Current methods typically combine a single-frequency ultrasound burst with pulse laser irradiation. However, the high acoustic energy required and limited treatment efficacy present a barrier to the clinical application of this technique. In this paper, we introduce a dual-frequency ultrasound approach to enhance PST efficacy with reduced acoustic energy. Through both theoretical bubble dynamics modeling and experimental study, the effect of dual-frequency ultrasound in PST is evaluated. The feasibility of the proposed method was validated using ex vivo blood vessel and blood clot phantoms, as well as an in vivo rabbit model. Results show that dual-frequency PST enhances cavitation activity, thrombolysis, and anti-vascular efficiency, highlighting its potential for clinical translation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Toward an accuracy-efficiency balanced model for modeling high intensity focused ultrasound

  NIH · $955k · 2018–2021

• 3D Functional Photoacoustic Imaging of Human Brain with a Stretchable Ultrasound Matrix Array

  NIH · $955k · 2021–2025

• Collaborative Research: Engineering Exceptional Points for Sound Control with Non-Hermitian Acoustic Metasurfaces

  NSF · $344k · 2020–2024

• Twisted Bilayer Sonic Crystal: A New Playground for Twistronics

  NSF · $381k · 2021–2024

• Transcranial Photoacoustic Imaging Using a Virtual Array

  NIH · $455k · 2020–2024

Frequent coauthors

• Mourad Oudich

  79 shared

• Nikhil JRK Gerard

  North Carolina State University

  39 shared

• Aiguo Han

  Virginia Tech

  33 shared

• Zixuan Tian

  Lanzhou University

  29 shared

• Matthew D. Olmstead

  Pennsylvania State University

  28 shared

• Yuanchen Deng

  Pennsylvania State University

  28 shared

• Yong Li

  Tongji University

  28 shared

• Chen Shen

  GE Global Research (United States)

  27 shared

Labs

• Jing's Lab at Penn StatePI

Awards & honors

• IEEE UFFC Star Ambassador Lectureship Award (2020)
• PIERS 2019 Xiamen Young Scientist Award (2019)
• R. Bruce Lindsay Award, Acoustical Society of America (2018)
• IEEE Ultrasonics Early Career Investigator Award, IEEE UFFC…
• Innovator Under 35 China, MIT Technology Review (2018)