Acoustic phonon spectrum engineering in bulk crystals via incorporation of dopant atoms

Abstract

We report results of Brillouin—Mandelstam spectroscopy of transparent Al2O3 crystals with Nd dopants. The ionic radius and atomic mass of Nd atoms are distinctively different from those of the host Al atoms. Our results show that even a small concentration of Nd atoms incorporated into the Al2O3 samples produces a profound change in the acoustic phonon spectrum. The velocity of the transverse acoustic phonons decreases by ∼600 m/s at the Nd density of only ∼0.1%. Interestingly, the decrease in the phonon frequency and velocity with the doping concentration is non-monotonic. The obtained results, demonstrating that modification of the acoustic phonon spectrum can be achieved not only by traditional nanostructuring but also by low-concentration doping, have important implications for thermal management as well as thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 07, 2018
Source ID
10.1063/1.5030558

Entities

People

  • Alexander A. Balandin
  • Ece Aytan
  • Elias H Penilla
  • Jacob S. Lewis
  • Javier E Garay
  • Maedeh Taheri

Organizations

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • United States Department of Energy
  • University of California

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Quantum Dot Semiconductor Device Photonics and Graphene Optoelectronic Materials and THz Physics.
  • Quantum spin resonance or Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems