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Updated: Oct 26, 2025
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Fabrication and Characterization of Disordered Polymer Optical Fibers for Transverse Anderson Localization of Light
Published on: July 29, 2013
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Signature of Many-Body Localization of Phonons in Strongly Disordered Superlattices
Thanh Nguyen1, Nina Andrejevic2, Hoi Chun Po3
1Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Nano Letters
|July 27, 2021
Summary
Researchers observed a novel phonon many-body localization (MBL) phase in disordered superlattices. This finding offers experimental evidence for MBL in solid-state systems, moving beyond theoretical models.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Materials
- Phononics
Background:
- Many-body localization (MBL) is a quantum phenomenon offering immunity to thermalization and potential for exotic quantum orders.
- Experimental realization of MBL in solid-state systems remains a significant challenge.
- Understanding MBL is crucial for developing novel quantum technologies and exploring fundamental physics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the possibility of a phonon many-body localization (MBL) phase in disordered semiconductor superlattices.
- To provide experimental evidence for MBL phenomena in solid-state systems.
- To extend the understanding of MBL beyond theoretical frameworks into practical material systems.
Main Methods:
- Utilized grazing-incidence inelastic X-ray scattering to probe phonon dynamics in disordered GaAs/AlAs superlattices doped with ErAs nanodots.
- Analyzed phonon population deviations from equilibrium at low temperatures to detect non-thermal behavior.
- Developed a theoretical model for the effective phonon Hamiltonian and mapped it to a disordered 1D Bose-Hubbard model.
Main Results:
- Observed a significant deviation of phonon populations from equilibrium, indicating a departure from thermalization.
- Identified this non-thermal behavior within specific phonon energy and wavevector windows, suggesting a localization-thermalization crossover.
- The theoretical model confirmed the mapping to a known MBL phase, supporting the experimental observations.
Conclusions:
- Reported compelling experimental evidence for a phonon many-body localization (MBL) phase in disordered GaAs/AlAs superlattices.
- Demonstrated momentum-resolved phonon localization in a solid-state system.
- This work expands the scope of MBL research into disordered solid-state materials, opening new avenues for experimental exploration.
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