Researcher(s)
- Thomas Whynot, Physics, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Yafei Ren, Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware
Abstract
Phonons are collective vibrations in crystal lattices that serve as carriers of thermal energy. Their motion is fundamental for determining material properties such as thermal conductivity and electronic interactions. Understanding how external magnetic fields modify phonon dynamics may provide a pathway for controlling phonon transport and engineering the thermal properties of materials. This project develops a numerical model of phonon movements in a 2D Honeycomb Lattice under the influence of magnetic fields to further understand phonon dynamics. A two dimensional honeycomb lattice was modeled using nearest neighbor harmonic interactions. Initially phonon dispersion relations were calculated to examine the influence of the magnetic field on the vibrational spectrum. Then the equations of motion were solved both analytically and numerically in the presence of a magnetic field. The resulting data was then used to plot the resulting atomic trajectories over time. The simulation results reproduced lattice vibrations both with and without the presence of a magnetic-field and demonstrated that increasing external magnetic field strength modifies phonon motion and produces orbital motion. In addition, the asymmetrical dispersion relation indicates the potential of nonreciprocal phonon transport while under an external magnetic field. These results provide a computational framework for investigating magnetic-field-controlled phonon motion and its application to nonreciprocal phononic devices, such as thermal diodes, while enabling future studies of anharmonic interactions and molecular Berry curvature.