Science Daily May 17, 2018
A team of researchers in the US (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, industry) has demonstrated supersonic channel for the propagation of lattice energy in fresnoite (Ba2TiSi2O8) using neutron scattering. Lattice energy propagates 2.8−4.3 times the speed of sound in the form of phasons, which are caused by an incommensurate modulation in the flexible framework structure of fresnoite. The phasons enhance the thermal conductivity by 20% at room temperature and carry lattice-energy signals at speeds beyond the limits of phonons. The discovery may dramatically improve heat transport in insulators and enable new strategies for heat management in future electronics devices… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Neutron scattering studies of lattice excitations in a fresnoite crystal revealed a way to speed thermal conduction. Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Dept. of Energy; graphic artist Jill Hemman