Observation of superdiffusive phonon transport in aligned atomic chains.

Fascinating phenomena can occur as charge and/or energy carriers are confined in one dimension. One such example is the divergent thermal conductivity (κ) of one-dimensional lattices, even in the presence of anharmonic interatomic interactions-a direct consequence of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou paradox proposed in 1955. This length dependence of κ, also known as superdiffusive phonon transport, presents a classical anomaly of continued interest.

Distinct Signatures of Electron-Phonon Coupling Observed in the Lattice Thermal Conductivity of NbSe Nanowires.

The last two decades have seen tremendous progress in quantitative understanding of several major phonon scattering mechanisms (phonon-phonon, phonon-boundary, phonon-defects), as they are the determinant factors in lattice thermal transport, which is critical for the proper functioning of various electronic and energy conversion devices. However, the roles of another major scattering mechanism, electron-phonon (e-ph) interactions, remain elusive. This is largely due to the lack of solid experimental evidence for the effects of e-ph scattering in the lattice thermal conductivity for the material systems studied thus far.