Ultrafast and coupled: Atomic vibrations in the quantum material boron nitride

Materials consisting of a few atomic layers display properties determined by quantum physics. In a stack of such layers, vibrations of the atoms can be triggered by infrared light. New experimental and theoretical work shows that atomic vibrations within the layers of hexagonal boron nitride, the so-called transverse optical phonons, couple directly to motions of the layers against each other. For a period of some 20 ps, the coupling results in a frequency down-shift of the optical phonons and their optical resonance. This behavior is a genuine property of the quantum material and of interest for applications in high-frequency optoelectronics.