Researchers at McGill University have developed a new quantum device that generates tiny sound-like particles called phonons at temperatures just above absolute zero. The advance could help pave the way for phonon lasers, a technology with potential uses in communications, medical diagnostics, and advanced sensing.
"Modern communication is largely based on light, including electromagnetic waves and electrical currents. In a medium such as oceans, sound can travel, whereas light and electrical currents cannot," said Michael Hilke, Associate Professor of Physics and study co-author. "In the human body, sound waves can also be a useful tool."
The device was designed and tested by researchers at McGill University and the National Research Council of Canada, while the material used in the device was synthesized at Princeton University.
The team created the device using a two-dimensional crystal that confines electrons to a channel only a few atoms wide. When an electrical current pushes the electrons through this ultra-thin pathway at high speeds, the electrons release their excess energy as bursts of sound-like vibrations known as phonons.
The researchers found that these phonons can be generated in predictable, controllable patterns, an important step toward practical devices that rely on precisely manipulating sound at the quantum level.
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