What if we told you that a laser doesn't have to be based on light, but instead on... vibration?

Dr. Iliya Esin and collaborators from Yale present in Nature: The transition from light to vibration – a new phenomenon expanding the concept of the laser.

In a recently published article in Nature, Dr. Iliya Esin from the Department of Physics, in collaboration with an experimental group from Yale, presents a new and intriguing direction: the creation of conditions for a phonon laser — that is, the coherent and powerful emission of lattice vibrations in a crystal.

🧬 How does it work?
By using graphene — a two-dimensional material just one atom thick — embedded within a layered structure of boron nitride. When extremely strong electric currents are passed through it, the electrons enter a special excited state known as the Schwinger effect and begin emitting into the crystal particles called hyperbolic polaritons.

📡 These polaritons — hybrids of light and matter — excite strong lattice vibrations, creating a phenomenon resembling a laser, but instead of light, it produces vibration 🎶.

🔬 The study offers a new physical foundation for the coherent control of phonons and expands the boundaries of what is possible for future technologies in materials science, electronics, and nano-optics.

📎 Read the full article