Resonant phonons: Localization in a structurally ordered crystal

Abstract

Phonon localization is a phenomenon that influences numerous material properties in condensed matter physics. Anderson localization brings rise to localized atomic-scale phonon interferences in disordered lattices with an influence limited to high-frequency phonons having wavelengths comparable to the size of a randomly perturbed unit cell. Here we theoretically reveal a new form of phonon localization induced by augmenting a crystalline material with intrinsic phonon nanoresonators with feature sizes that can be smaller or larger than the phonon wavelengths but must be relatively small compared to the phonon mean free paths. This mechanism is deterministic and takes place within numerous discrete narrow-frequency bands spread throughout the full spectrum with central frequencies controlled by design. For demonstration, we run molecular dynamics simulations of all-silicon nanopillared membranes at room temperature, and apply to the underlying thermalized environment narrowband wave packets as an excitation at precisely the frequencies where resonant hybridizations are evident in the anharmonic phonon band structure. Upon comparison to other frequency ranges where the nanostructure does not exhibit local resonances, significant intrinsic spatial phonon localization along the direction of transport is explicitly observed. Furthermore, the energy exchange with external sources is minimized at the resonant frequencies. We conclude by making a direct comparison with Anderson localization highlighting the superiority of the resonant phonons across both sides of the interference frequency limit.