noun

• A quantum of energy or a quasiparticle associated with a compressional wave such as sound or a vibration of a crystal lattice.

  ‘This issue is related to the inhibition of carrier relaxation due to the selection rule of interaction between electrons and phonons in discrete energy level systems.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The broadness of the excited-state manifold is probably due to the strong electron coupling to high-frequency phonons, very recently suggested by Ihalainen et al.’
  • ‘The phonon energies are also quantized in a nanocrystal.’
  • ‘This important spectral region contains material information related to phonons, excitons, and Cooper pairs.’
  • ‘Some of the collision energy can be channeled into a collective shudder of the condensate called a phonon.’