Vanderbilt researchers part of collaboration that manipulates atomic vibrations and nanomaterials
This breakthrough could make it possible to develop customized functionalities to improve on and build new technologies.
Electron beams in powerful microscopes have probed materials and nanostructures with atomic-scale resolution, imaged the atomic arrangements and, in combination with theory, unveiled electronic and magnetic properties. Recent developments in microscopy help make it possible to get direct signals from phonons, namely vibrational modes, with high resolution in both space and energy. Researchers can now measure distinct vibrational modes at interfaces in multilayered structures, defects, and other inhomogeneities.