Tucson Standard

Researchers from the University of Arizona Wyant College of Optical Sciences and Sandia National Laboratories have made significant strides in developing smaller, more efficient wireless devices. By utilizing phononics, a technology similar to photonics but involving phonons—particles that transmit mechanical vibrations—the team has paved the way for advancements in wireless technologies.

The study, published in Nature Materials, highlights how combining specialized semiconductor and piezoelectric materials can create strong nonlinear interactions between phonons. This could lead to the development of smaller, more powerful wireless devices like smartphones. "Most people would probably be surprised to hear that there are something like 30 filters inside their cell phone whose sole job it is to transform radio waves into sound waves and back," said Matt Eichenfield, the study's senior author.

These developments involve front-end processors with piezoelectric filters that convert sound and electronic waves multiple times during data transmission. Due to current material limitations, these components make devices larger than necessary and reduce performance through signal losses. "Normally, phonons behave in a completely linear fashion," Eichenfield explained.

Nonlinear phononics allows phonons to interact with each other, as demonstrated by the researchers using synthetic materials. The ability for one beam of phonons to change another's frequency marks a significant milestone. The group aims to integrate all necessary components for radio frequency signal processors on a single chip using acoustic wave technologies.

"Now, you can point to every component in a diagram of a radiofrequency front-end processor and say, 'Yeah, I can make all of these on one chip with acoustic waves,'" said Eichenfield. This could potentially reduce device sizes by up to 100 times.

The research utilized silicon wafers combined with lithium niobate and indium gallium arsenide semiconductors. "When we combined these materials in just the right way, we were able to experimentally access a new regime of phononic nonlinearity," said Lisa Hackett from Sandia National Laboratories.

By enhancing nonlinearity hundreds or thousands of times over previous capabilities, this technology promises communication devices that are smaller yet more capable than current models.