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  • Accepted Manuscript: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Observation of Phonon Condensate

Title: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Observation of Phonon Condensate

Using quantum tunneling of electrons into vibrating surface atoms, phonon oscillations can be observed on the atomic scale. Phonon interference patterns with unusually large signal amplitudes have been revealed by scanning tunneling microscopy in intercalated van der Waals heterostructures. Our results show that the effective radius of these phonon quasi-bound states, the real-space distribution of phonon standing wave amplitudes, the scattering phase shifts, and the nonlinear intermode coupling strongly depend on the presence of defect-induced scattering resonance. The observed coherence of these quasi-bound states most likely arises from phase- and frequency-synchronized dynamics of all phonon modes, and indicates the formation of many-body condensate of optical phonons around resonant defects. We found that increasing the strength of the scattering resonance causes the increase of the condensate droplet radius without affecting the condensate fraction inside it. The condensate can be observed at room temperature.
Authors:
 [1] ; ORCiD logo [2] ;  [1] ;  [1] ;  [3] ;  [3]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Air Force Research Lab. (AFRL), Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
Publication Date:
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-17-22298
Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group
Research Org:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org:
USDOE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Material Science; Bose–Einstein condensatesTwo-dimensional materials
OSTI Identifier:
1357137