Quantum kinetic study of the electron-LO-phonon interaction in a semiconductor
- Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States)
We present a full quantum-mechanical study of the early time kinetics of a coupled electron-LO-phonon system in a semiconductor quantum wire. Schroedinger`s equation is directly solved to obtain the many-body wave function for a conduction electron interacting with the complete spectrum of phonon modes. This approach has the advantage of treating the electron and the phonons as well as their correlation on equal footing and as interdependent entities. We show that the electron and phonon observables illustrate the non-Markovian nature of the early time kinetics, namely, a retarded loss of the electron`s momentum and an initial overshoot in its kinetic energy. These effects are shown to stem from the buildup of correlation between the electron and the phonons and are mediated by virtual transitions. It is shown further that the continuous nature of the electron-phonon interaction has important consequences in both the electron`s relaxation and transport behavior, e.g., the suppression of scattering in strong longitudinal electric fields. The quantum kinetic results are compared to those obtained from a traditional semiclassical treatment. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 530961
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 55, Issue 12; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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