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To: Bill Jackson who wrote (21414)	12/4/2000 4:01:04 AM
From: Pravin Kamdar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 275872

Bill, On the web site for this company they mention phonons. It seems these are sound energy carriers and if they have a perfect wave guide they can tunnel heat along in a more rapid way. If you consider a photon to be the quantized nature of electromagnetic waves, then a phonon is analogously the quantized (particle like) nature of mechanical waves (or vibrations) within a crystal lattice. Phonons can interact (collide) with themselves or even with electrons (while conserving momentum and all that happy stuff, similar to photo/electorn interactions described by the Compton effect). In fact, this is how electrical current imparts its energy to the lattice and causes what we measure as heat. But, looking at anisotopic thermal conduction form an intuitive perspective, think about taking a piece of rope and waving it around to form a standing wave. Now tie a knot in it (to add an incremental mass at a given point, like an extra neutron in a silicon isotope) and try generating the standing wave again. This gives a picture of the problem. The discontinuity will cause all kinds of reflections and thereby hinder heat conduction (or the smooth propagation of mechanical lattice vibrations). Pravin.