Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Sound and light trapped by disorder

Abstract:
Researchers from the Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2) and the Centre de Nanosciences et Nanotechnologies – C2N (CNRS / Université Paris-Sud) have proposed a new and counterintuitive approach using disordered structures to trap light (photons) and sound (phonons) at the same place. By using a specific pair of semiconductor materials (gallium-arsenide and aluminium-arsenide) stacked randomly, something that relaxes substantially the fabrication requirements, they show that not only the light and sound can be trapped at the nanoscale, but also their interaction is enhanced. The results have been published in Physical Review Letters.

Sound and light trapped by disorder

Barcelona, Spain | Posted on February 8th, 2019

Sound and light are crucial for our life and represent the core in many energy, communication and information technologies. Their interaction allows many fundamental observations in Physics, from the detection of cosmic gravitational waves to the cooling of quantum systems into their quantum ground state. However, their interaction is subtle and weak. Enhancing their interaction requires confining both waves at the same place which is a considerable technological challenge. In nanotechnology, this has been solved by creating cavities relying on very carefully fabricated patterns. This approach is demanding and easily disturbed by disorder and defects. In a work recently published in Physical Review Letters a fully different approach is proposed, where symmetry and periodicity are not needed, and disorder is embraced. The work has been done in close collaboration with Dr. Daniel Lanzillotti-Kimura, a researcher at CNRS in France. The first author of the work is Guillermo Arregui and the last one is Dr Pedro David García, both from the ICN2 Phononic and Photonic Nanostructures Group led by ICREA Prof. Dr. Clivia M. Sotomayor-Torres.

Order, symmetry and periodicity are words that have always thrilled researchers. For physicists, the appeal is that regular systems tend to obey simple (or at least symmetric) laws. Even complex systems are simplified in their description, which helps understanding their underlying mechanisms. However, the world is complex. However, understanding the inherent complexity of nature ultimately requires departing from perfect symmetry and periodicity. Remarkably, as the authors show in this work, disorder and complexity can be exploited as a resource instead of being treated just as an unavoidable annoyance. In the recently published work, disorder is used to simultaneously localize sound and light at the nanoscale.

Researchers from the ICN2 and the Centre de Nanosciences et Nanotechnologies – C2N (CNRS / Université Paris-Sud) propose a random multilayered semiconductor structure were a subtle combination of their material properties force the simultaneous co-localization of sound and light. The equations governing the propagation of light and sound in stacks made of gallium-arsenide (GaAs) and aluminium-arsenide (AlAs) are extremely similar, leading to an Anderson colocalization of both excitations in random lattices. This is due to a surprising matching in the contrast of their indices of refraction and their speeds of sound, respectively, something that does not happen, for example, with other similar materials like Si/Ge or InP/GaP. The colocalization in random lattices induces an enhancement of the interaction between the light and sound fields. This interaction relies on the fact that light carries momentum which can be transferred to an object and move it. As a counterpart, a moving object can shift the frequency of light. In everyday life, this interaction is extremely small resulting in negligible effects.

To enhance these mutual interactions, the approach followed by nanotechnology is to concentrate light in small volumes and make use of small objects for which these effects become observable. Here, we show that no particular design is required to achieve this mutual observable interaction, thus relaxing substantially the fabrication needs. This achievement may be used to exploit the interaction between light and sound in arbitrarily designed structures, thus relaxing the very demanding fabrication requirements currently needed in nanotechnology. The co-localization effect shown in the new work unlocks the access to unexplored localization phenomena and the engineering of light-matter interactions mediated by Anderson-localized states.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Alex Argemi

Copyright © ICN2

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related Links

Article reference:

Related News Press

News and information

Beyond wires: Bubble technology powers next-generation electronics:New laser-based bubble printing technique creates ultra-flexible liquid metal circuits November 8th, 2024

Nanoparticle bursts over the Amazon rainforest: Rainfall induces bursts of natural nanoparticles that can form clouds and further precipitation over the Amazon rainforest November 8th, 2024

Nanotechnology: Flexible biosensors with modular design November 8th, 2024

Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024

Physics

Physicists unlock the secret of elusive quantum negative entanglement entropy using simple classical hardware August 16th, 2024

New method cracked for high-capacity, secure quantum communication July 5th, 2024

Finding quantum order in chaos May 17th, 2024

International research team uses wavefunction matching to solve quantum many-body problems: New approach makes calculations with realistic interactions possible May 17th, 2024

Possible Futures

Nanotechnology: Flexible biosensors with modular design November 8th, 2024

Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024

Turning up the signal November 8th, 2024

Nanofibrous metal oxide semiconductor for sensory face November 8th, 2024

Chip Technology

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow November 8th, 2024

Nanofibrous metal oxide semiconductor for sensory face November 8th, 2024

New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024

Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024

Optical computing/Photonic computing

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow November 8th, 2024

Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024

Enhancing electron transfer for highly efficient upconversion: OLEDs Researchers elucidate the mechanisms of electron transfer in upconversion organic light-emitting diodes, resulting in improved efficiency August 16th, 2024

New method cracked for high-capacity, secure quantum communication July 5th, 2024

Discoveries

Breaking carbon–hydrogen bonds to make complex molecules November 8th, 2024

Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024

Turning up the signal November 8th, 2024

Nanofibrous metal oxide semiconductor for sensory face November 8th, 2024

Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance

New material to make next generation of electronics faster and more efficient With the increase of new technology and artificial intelligence, the demand for efficient and powerful semiconductors continues to grow November 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Focused ion beam technology: A single tool for a wide range of applications January 12th, 2024

Announcements

Nanotechnology: Flexible biosensors with modular design November 8th, 2024

Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024

Turning up the signal November 8th, 2024

Nanofibrous metal oxide semiconductor for sensory face November 8th, 2024

Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters

Beyond wires: Bubble technology powers next-generation electronics:New laser-based bubble printing technique creates ultra-flexible liquid metal circuits November 8th, 2024

Nanoparticle bursts over the Amazon rainforest: Rainfall induces bursts of natural nanoparticles that can form clouds and further precipitation over the Amazon rainforest November 8th, 2024

Nanotechnology: Flexible biosensors with modular design November 8th, 2024

Exosomes: A potential biomarker and therapeutic target in diabetic cardiomyopathy November 8th, 2024

Photonics/Optics/Lasers

New microscope offers faster, high-resolution brain imaging: Enhanced two-photon microscopy method could reveal insights into neural dynamics and neurological diseases August 16th, 2024

Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024

Enhancing electron transfer for highly efficient upconversion: OLEDs Researchers elucidate the mechanisms of electron transfer in upconversion organic light-emitting diodes, resulting in improved efficiency August 16th, 2024

Single atoms show their true color July 5th, 2024

Quantum nanoscience

Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024

Researchers observe “locked” electron pairs in a superconductor cuprate August 16th, 2024

A 2D device for quantum cooling:EPFL engineers have created a device that can efficiently convert heat into electrical voltage at temperatures lower than that of outer space. The innovation could help overcome a significant obstacle to the advancement of quantum computing technol July 5th, 2024

Searching for dark matter with the coldest quantum detectors in the world July 5th, 2024

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project