Quantum information can be stored in micromechanical resonators, encoded as quanta of vibration known as phonons. The vibrational motion is then restricted to the stationary eigenmodes of the resonator, which thus serves as local storage for phonons. In contrast, we couple propagating phonons to an artificial atom in the quantum regime and reproduce findings from quantum optics, with sound taki...

We derive analytically the interface and confined polar optical-phonon modes for spherical quantum dots with wurtzite crystal structure. While the frequency of confined optical phonons in zincblende nanocrystals is equal to that of the bulk crystal phonons, the confined polar optical phonons in wurtzite nanocrystals are shown to have a discrete spectrum of frequencies different from those in bu...

The effect of intramolecular relaxations on the damping of longitudinal and transverse phonons was studied in poly(methylphenylsiloxane) (PMPS) and poly(ethylmethylsiloxane) (PEMS) polymers by means of Brillouin spectroscopy. It is shown that studies of the polarized and depolarized Brillouin spectra as functions of temperature and pressure allow for the separation of the contributions of the i...

Under pressure cesium undergoes a transition from a high-pressure fcc phase (Cs-II) to a collapsed fcc phase (Cs-III) near 4.2GPa. At 4.4GPa there follows a transition to the tetragonal Cs-IV phase. In order to investigate the lattice vibrations in the fcc phase and seek a possible dynamical instability of the lattice, the phonon spectra of fcc-Cs at volumes near the III to IV transition are ca...

Raman scattering spectra of filled skutterudite RT4X12 (R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm and Y, T=Fe, Ru and Os, and X=Sb and P) and unfilled skutterudite CoP3 have been measured. All first-order Raman active phonons, which are due to the vibration of pnictogens, are observed. In addition, the crystal field excitations in PrRu4P12 spectra and the 2 order phonons including rare-earth vibrations in SmRu4P12 ...

A new method for detection of zone-boundary phonons is reported. Phonons are detected by phonon difference absorption of far-infrared laser radiation. We present experimental results obtained for TlCl and TlBr crystals. Phonons are generated by nonradiative transitions in optically excited crystals. Our experiments indicate long-lived zone-boundary phonons at low crystal temperature and a stron...

The interactions between thermal phonons and defects are conventionally described as scattering processes, an idea proposed almost a century ago. In this contribution, ab-initio molecular-dynamics simulations provide atomic-level insight into the nature of these interactions. The defect is the Si|X interface in a nanowire containing a δ-layer (X is C or Ge). The phonon-defect interactions are t...

The effects resulting due to dressing of an exciton with phonons are analysed as the source of unavoidable decoherence of orbital degrees of freedom in quantum dots. The dressing with longitudinal optical phonons results in energetic shift of order of a few meV even of the ground state of exciton in a state-of-the-art InAs/GaAs dot and the mediating role of longitudinal acoustical phonons is es...

We derive within the dielectric-continuum model an integral equation that defines interface and confined polar optical-phonon modes in nanocrystals with a wurtzite crystal structure. It is demonstrated theoretically that, while the frequency of confined polar optical phonons in zinc-blende nanocrystals is equal to that of the bulk crystal phonons, the confined polar optical phonons in wurtzite ...