Direct Observation of Electron-Phonon Interaction

Abstract

In a heat-pulse experiment performed at liquid helium temperatures in InSb samples containing a few times ${10}^{17}$ electrons per ${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$, we have observed a strong attenuation of the longitudinal phonon pulse and no attenuation of the transverse pulses. Both these observations are related to basic properties of the electron-phonon interaction.