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Title: Electron-phonon interaction, localization, and polaron formation in one-dimensional systems

Journal Article · · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011 (United States)
  2. Research Center of Crete, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, P.O. Box 1527, 71110 Heraklion, Crete (Greece)

We present results for the time evolution of a one-dimensional system consisting of an electron, described by a tight-binding Hamiltonian and a harmonic latttice, coupled by a deformation-type potential. We solve numerically the nonlinear system of equations of motion for this model in order to study the effects of varying the electronic effective mass for several initial conditions and coupling strengths. Different types of localized and extended states are formed with features that are absent from the traditional polaronic states and depend very strongly on the initial electronic configuration and effective mass in a very often unexpected manner. We find that, in general, an increase of the initial electronic energy decreases the ability of the system to form localized states. However, a large effective mass favors localized polaron formation for initially localized electrons, but this is not always the case for initially extended electronic states. In the latter case, increasing the effective mass of an electron initially close to the bottom of the band makes localization more difficult, while for an initially highly excited electron, localized polaron formation is possible only when the electronic effective mass and the atomic masses of the lattice become of the same order. Finally, for a small parameter range, we find an impressive recurrence, a periodic and a complete exchange between the electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom of a small part of the initial electronic energy.

Research Organization:
Ames National Laboratory
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-82
OSTI ID:
54926
Journal Information:
Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 51, Issue 21; Other Information: PBD: 1 Jun 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English