Tuned "nano-vibrations" could yield comms advances

According to the University, the discovery could lead to new applications of photonics from molecular sensing to wireless communications

In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers at Rice’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) used ultrafast laser pulses to induce the atoms in gold nanodisks to vibrate.

These vibrational patterns - called acoustic phonons - have a characteristic frequency that relates directly to the size of the nanoparticle. The researchers reportedly found they could fine-tune the acoustic response of the particle by varying the thickness of the material to which the nanodisks were attached.

“Our results point toward a straightforward method for tuning the acoustic phonon frequency of a nanostructure in the gigahertz range by controlling the thickness of its adhesion layer,” said lead researcher Stephan Link, associate professor of chemistry and in electrical and computer engineering.

Light has no mass, but each photon that strikes an object imparts a miniscule amount of mechanical motion, thanks to a phenomenon called radiation pressure. A branch of physics - optomechanics - has developed over the past decade to study and exploit radiation pressure for applications like gravity wave detection and low-temperature generation.