Descrizione del progetto
Esplorare nuovi quanti di energia vibrazionale in materiali realistici
Gli atomi e le molecole in vibrazione generano calore che può essere quantificato come fononi, unità o quanti di energia meccanica vibrazionale creati dall’oscillazione degli atomi all’interno di un cristallo, simili a particelle di calore. I fononi in stati protetti specializzati, chiamati anche stati topologici, potrebbero dare origine a fenomeni esotici potenzialmente applicabili alla logica basata sui fononi e alle tecnologie di energia rinnovabile. Ciononostante, ad oggi questi fononi specializzati sono stati studiati quasi esclusivamente all’interno di materiali cristallini artificiali. Con il supporto del programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto TOPHONICALS sta combinando teoria ed esperimenti pratici per raggiungere questi stati specializzati in materiali realistici utilizzabili per ingegnerizzare nuovi dispositivi termici.
Obiettivo
Phonons are the quantized vibration of the crystal lattice that carry heat in insulators and semiconductors and thus the ability of manipulating them is central in many applications, ranging from thermal management, thermoelectricity and ,perhaps the most visionary of them, phonon-based logic and computing. Topological nontrivial phonons have been studied in artificial periodic structures, i.e. phononic crystals, and as intrinsic quantized collective excitations of atomic vibrations at terahertz frequency. The latter are of particular importance and can promote fundamental investigations and promising applications related to phonons, such as dissipationless phonon transport, quantized Hall effect, etc. The goal of this project is to investigate the intrinsic topological phononic states inside realistic crystalline solids and provide recipes for their experimental realization and engineering. The TOPological pHONonics In Crystalline materiALS (TOPHONICALS) project will deliver a framework aimed at designing and realizing nontrivial topological phonon states in realistic crystalline materials, exploring their use in applications related to renewable energy and information technology. Specifically, TOPHONICALS will focus on topological phononic states like quantum anomalous/spin/valley hall-like (Q(A/S/V)H-like) states and Weyl phonons with the purpose to achieve these states in the realistic materials, so that thermal devices such as dissipationless phonon waveguides, phonon diodes, negative refraction materials can be further designed and engineered. The challenge and novelty of TOPHONICALS is delivering a set of recipes to realize these devices not simply using theoretical models but realistic materials. This approach would allow us to imagine a low power phononic circuits, highly efficient phonon valley filters and an ideal phonon diode, as the topological phononic states are promising one-way boundary states immune to scattering.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
28006 Madrid
Spagna