The technology described herein is directed towards a metasurface arranged with unit cells for
narrowband sound absorption, in which the unit cells are based on Helmholtz resonators that can have their resonant frequencies selected via interchangeable portions. A sound absorbing unit
cell is designed and constructed in two parts based on a desired
resonance frequency, such as a neck portion and
air chamber portion. The portions are dimensioned such that when coupled together, Helmholtz resonators are formed that resonate at a desired
resonance frequency and thereby inverse phase cancel corresponding
narrowband frequencies of incoming sound
waves. A portion with different dimensions can be interchanged to adjust the resonant frequencies to cancel acoustic
waves of different frequencies corresponding to
noise, which can change over time. The unit cells can be distributed as part of a metasurface, which can be positioned
proximate to a
noise source to phase cancel the
noise.