A research team including members from the University of Michigan has unveiled a new observational technique that’s sensitive to the dynamics of the intrinsic quantum jiggles of materials, or phonons.

This work will help scientists and engineers better design metamaterials—substances that possess exotic properties that rarely exist in nature—that are reconfigurable and made from solutions containing nanoparticles that self-assemble into larger structures, the researchers said. These materials have wide-ranging applications, from shock absorption to devices that guide acoustic and optical energy in high-powered computer applications.

“This opens a new research area where nanoscale building blocks—along with their intrinsic optical, electromagnetic and chemical properties—can be incorporated into mechanical metamaterials, enabling emerging technologies in multiple fields from robotics and mechanical engineering to information technology,” said Xiaoming Mao, U-M professor of physics and co-author of the new study.

The Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and Army Research Office supported this research.

Phonons are natural phenomena that can be thought of as discrete packets of waves that move through the building blocks of materials, whether they are atoms, particles or 3D-printed hinges, causing them to vibrate and transfer energy. This is a quantum mechanical description of common properties observed in various contexts, including the transfer of heat, the flow of sound and even seismic waves formed by earthquakes.

Some materials, both artificial and natural, are designed to move phonons along specific paths, imparting specific mechanical attributes. Two real-life examples of this include materials used in structures to resist seismic waves during earthquakes and the evolution of the rugged, yet lightweight skeletons of deep-sea sponges that enable the organisms to withstand the extreme pressures of deep-water environments.

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Professor Xiaoming Mao

Study: Nanoscale phonon dynamics in self-assembled nanoparticle lattices (DOI: 10.1038/s41563-025-02253-3)