Observation of coherently modulated thermal phonon band and lifetime in superlattice
Abstract
Manipulating phonon band structures through wave interference in artificial periodic nanostructures is of fundamental interest and forms the foundation of phonon band engineering. Yet, direct observation of thermal phonon wave interference has remained elusive despite half a century of extensive research. Here, utilizing inelastic x-ray scattering, we directly observed momentum-resolved coherently modulated thermal phonon bands and lifetimes in a short-period GaAs/AlAs superlattice at 300 K. The modulation persists at even 500 K, demonstrating robust coherent thermal phonon transport at high temperatures. Our measurements, combined with ab initio lattice-dynamics calculations, further show that thermal phonon interference expands the three-phonon scattering phase space and strengthens anharmonic effects, highlighting the interplay between phonon band modulation and anharmonicity. Our observations establish nanostructuring as a versatile route for engineering thermal phonon bands and lifetimes at high temperatures across diverse applications.
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BibTeX
@misc{liao2026observation,
title = {{Observation of coherently modulated thermal phonon band and lifetime in superlattice}},
author = {Yuxuan Liao and Hiroshi Uchiyama and Naomi Nagai and Natalia Morais and Taiushun Manjo and Rulei Guo and Harsh Chandra and Ryohei Nagahiro and Bin Xu and Hiroshi Fukui and Daisuke Ishikawa and Alfred Q. R. Baron and Yasuhiko Arakawa and Kazuhiko Hirakawa and Junichiro Shiomi},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.11696},
eprint = {2606.11696},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.11696},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Observation of coherently modulated thermal phonon band and lifetime in superlattice
AU - Yuxuan Liao
AU - Hiroshi Uchiyama
AU - Naomi Nagai
AU - Natalia Morais
AU - Taiushun Manjo
AU - Rulei Guo
AU - Harsh Chandra
AU - Ryohei Nagahiro
AU - Bin Xu
AU - Hiroshi Fukui
AU - Daisuke Ishikawa
AU - Alfred Q. R. Baron
AU - Yasuhiko Arakawa
AU - Kazuhiko Hirakawa
AU - Junichiro Shiomi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.11696
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.11696
AB - Manipulating phonon band structures through wave interference in artificial periodic nanostructures is of fundamental interest and forms the foundation of phonon band engineering. Yet, direct observation of thermal phonon wave interference has remained elusive despite half a century of extensive research. Here, utilizing inelastic x-ray scattering, we directly observed momentum-resolved coherently modulated thermal phonon bands and lifetimes in a short-period GaAs/AlAs superlattice at 300 K. The modulation persists at even 500 K, demonstrating robust coherent thermal phonon transport at high temperatures. Our measurements, combined with ab initio lattice-dynamics calculations, further show that thermal phonon interference expands the three-phonon scattering phase space and strengthens anharmonic effects, highlighting the interplay between phonon band modulation and anharmonicity. Our observations establish nanostructuring as a versatile route for engineering thermal phonon bands and lifetimes at high temperatures across diverse applications.
ER -