• Corpus ID: 118647650

Confinement of Vibrational Modes in Nanocrystalline Silicon

@article{Bagolini2016ConfinementOV,
  title={Confinement of Vibrational Modes in Nanocrystalline Silicon},
  author={Luigi Bagolini and Alessandro Mattoni and Mark T. Lusk},
  journal={arXiv: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics},
  year={2016}
}

• L. Bagolini, A. Mattoni, M. Lusk
• Published 29 April 2016
• Materials Science
• arXiv: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics

It is possible to confine vibrational modes to silicon nanocrystals by encapsulating them within hydrogenated amorphous silicon. This is not because of the small impedance mismatch between materials but, rather, is due to higher order moments in the distribution of density and stiffness in the amorphous phase--i.e. it is a result of material substructure. The concept is elucidated using an idealized one-dimensional setting and then demonstrated for a realistic nanocrystalline geometry. Beyond the immediate focus on amorphous encapsulation, this offers the prospect of specifically engineering higher order property distributions as an alternate means of managing phonons. The approach could be applied, for instance, to design deterministically ordered materials which exploit this means of control.