A phononic device next to a dime for scale Credit: Caltech - A phononic device next to a dime for scale
To make modern communications possible, today's mobile devices make use of components that use acoustic waves (vibrations) to filter or delay signals. However, current solutions have limited functionalities that prevent further miniaturization of the mobile devices and constrain the available communication bandwidth. Now, a research team led by Chiara Daraio , Caltech professor of mechanical engineering and applied physics, has developed new versions of these components with abilities previous incarnations did not possess. The components, known as phononic devices, could find uses in new kinds of sensors, improved cell phone technologies applied physics, and quantum computing. The phononic devices include parts that vibrate extremely fast, moving back and forth up to tens of millions of times per second. The team developed these devices by creating silicon nitride drums that are just 90 nanometers thick. (A human hair is about a thousand times thicker.
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