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Glite Dictionary
phonon

phonon

1 9.9
A small unit of vibrating energy that moves through solids carrying heat and sound
  • noun
  • /ˈfoʊnɒn/
  • Specialized
: fonón
  • Mechanical disturbances create isentropic pressure fluctuations that propagate as phonons with the speed of sound in water.
  • electron-phonon
  • phonon coupling
  • phonon frequencies

Sound is just the absorption of light, right, manifested in the form of phonons that carry mass.

Examples

  • This morning we detected a signal, a phonon burst that seems to have triggered these machines.

    Independence Daysaster (2013)

  • In the case of krypton on gold, phonons appear to be almost solely responsible for the dissipation of energy.

    Academic text (1998)

  • From the phonon dispersion curve, one could then infer much about the material properties.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Sound is just the absorption of light, right, manifested in the form of phonons that carry mass.

    André Duqum

  • The chance of energy leaking out as phonons is conceivably high.

    Academic text (2005)

  • We shall concern ourselves only with acoustic phonons, whose frequencies extend from zero to approximately 10^12 Hz in most solids.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Among their activities, phonons govern the thermal properties of solids; they scatter electrons, relax spins, and mediate conventional superconductivity.

    Academic text (1995)

  • In solids, phonons travel through the material, carrying heat from one end to the other.

  • Researchers study phonons to understand how energy moves in different materials at a microscopic level.

  • Phonons can be thought of as the vibrational energy that helps sound travel through metal.

Surface Forms

phonon singular
phonons plural

Morphology

phonon = phon (semi-transparent) = phon + on

The element 'phon' refers to sound and the suffix '-on' is a particle-naming suffix; the relation to vibration/sound is detectable but the specialised physics meaning is technical rather than immediately clear to an average learner.

Etymology

Phonon comes from the Greek root phon- meaning 'sound' and the suffix -on, which scientists use for small particles as in electron. So a phonon is like a tiny 'sound particle' that carries vibration and heat through a solid.