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IMAGE: Electron microscopy shows the graphene sample (gray) in which the helium beam has created a hole pattern so that the density varies periodically. This results in the superposition of vibrational. view more
Credit: K. Höflich/HZB
Without electronics and photonics, there would be no computers, smartphones, sensors, or information and communication technologies. In the coming years, the new field of phononics may further expand these options. That field is concerned with understanding and controlling lattice vibrations (phonons) in solids. In order to realize phononic devices, however, lattice vibrations have to be controlled as precisely as commonly realized in the case of electrons or photons.