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  • Perspective
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Nanocrystal phononics

Nature Materials volume 22, pages 161–169 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Colloidal nanocrystals are successfully used as nanoscale building blocks for creating hierarchical solids with structures that range from amorphous networks to sophisticated periodic superlattices. Recently, it has been observed that these superlattices exhibit collective vibrations, which stem from the correlated motion of the nanocrystals, with their surface-bound ligands acting as molecular linkers. In this Perspective, we describe the work so far on collective vibrations in nanocrystal solids and their as-of-yet untapped potential for phononic applications. With the ability to engineer vibrations in the hypersonic regime through the choice of nanocrystal and linker composition, as well as by controlling their size, shape and chemical interactions, such superstructures offer new opportunities for phononic crystals, acoustic metamaterials and optomechanical systems.

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Fig. 1: Nanocrystal superlattices and their vibrations.
Fig. 2: Collective vibrations in NC solids.
Fig. 3: Scaling of vibrations.
Fig. 4: Phonon engineering.

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Acknowledgements

M.J. and V.W. acknowledge support from the Swiss National Science Foundation through project no. 175889, the Quantum Sciences and Technology, National Centre of Competence in Research. W.A.T. was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under award number DE-SC0021025.

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  1. Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Maximilian Jansen & Vanessa Wood

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    William A. Tisdale

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  1. Maximilian Jansen
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M.J., W.A.T. and V.W. contributed to the discussion of content and revisions of the manuscript. V.W. conceived the idea; M.J. wrote the manuscript and made the illustrations. All authors read and approved the final manuscript contents.

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Correspondence to Vanessa Wood.

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Jansen, M., Tisdale, W.A. & Wood, V. Nanocrystal phononics. Nat. Mater. 22, 161–169 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01438-4

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