Heating of nonequilibrium electrons by laser radiation in solid transparent dielectrics

A computer simulation of the heating of nonequilibrium electrons by an intense high-frequency electromagnetic field leading to the bulk damage of solid transparent dielectrics under single irradiation has been carried out. The dependences of the avalanche ionization rate on threshold field strength have been derived. Using the Fokker-Planck equation with a flux-doubling boundary condition is shown to lead to noticeable errors even at a ratio of the photon energy to the band gap ∼0.1. The series of dependences of the critical fields on pulse duration have been constructed for various initial lattice temperatures and laser wavelengths, which allow the electron avalanche to be identified as a limiting breakdown mechanism. The ratio of the energy stored in the electron subsystem to the excess (with respect to the equilibrium state) energy of the phonon subsystem by the end of laser pulse action has been calculated both with and without allowance for phonon heating. The influence of phonon heating on the impact avalanche ionization rate is analyzed.     

Investigation of hot electrons and hot phonons generated within an AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor

We review our recent results obtained on an AlN/GaN-based high-electron-mobility transistor. The temperature of the electrons drifting under a relatively-high electric field is significantly higher than the lattice temperature (i.e., the hot electrons are generated). These hot electrons are produced through the Fröhlich interaction between the drifting electrons and long-lived longitudinal-optical phonons. By fitting electric field vs. electron temperature deduced from the measurements of photoluminescence spectra to a theoretical model, we have deduced the longitudinal-optical-phonon emission time for each electron is to be on the order of 100 fs. We have also measured the decay time constant for LO phonons to be about 4.2 ps. An electric field present in a GaN/AlN heterostructure can bring both the first-order and second-order Raman scattering processes into strong resonances. The resonant Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman scattering results in the increase and decrease of non-equilibrium longitudinal-optical phonon temperatures, respectively. Moreover, the phonon temperature measured from the Raman scattering is increased with an applied electric field at a much higher rate than the lattice temperature due to the presence of field-induced non-equilibrium longitudinal-optical phonons.     

Effect of electron–phonon interaction on the energy spectrum of a quantum antidot in the presence of a uniform strong magnetic field

We have studied the effect of electron–phonon interaction for small electron–phonon coupling on the electronic energy spectrum of an electron confined by a parabolic potential and a repulsive antidot potential in the presence of a uniform strong magnetic field and an Aharonov–Bohm flux field by using a variational procedure. We have shown that the presence of the antidot potential removes degeneracy of the Landau levels and electron–phonon interaction has nonnegligible effects on these levels.     

Effects of Screening and Finite Phonon Energy on the Transport in Quantized Layers in Compound Semiconductors

Analytical expressions for the momentum relaxation times of the conduction electrons in a non-degenerate two dimensional electron gas in the surface of a compound semiconductor have been obtained for interactions with the piezoelectric and deformation potential acoustic phonons taking due account of the screening of the perturbing potential under the the condition of low lattice temperature when the phonon energy cannot be neglected in comparison to the average thermal energy of the electrons and for that matter the equipartition approximation for the phonon distribution is hardly valid. The relaxation times calculated for inversion layers in GaAs and ZnO are found to depend upon the carrier energy, the lattice temperature and the impurity concentration in rather complex manners which are significantly different from what follows from the traditional approach of either neglecting the phonon energy or disregarding the process of screening. It is seen how the finite value of the phonon energy and the screening of the perturbing potential change the mobility characteristics significantly at the low lattice temperatures. The temperature dependence of the zero field mobility that one obtains using the relaxation times calculated here is quite different from the traditional laws.     

Field-theoretic approach to the properties of the solid state

The techniques of quantum field theory are used to investigate the thermodynamic ion displacement correlation function—or Green's function of the phonon field—in a crystal and especially in a metal. The structure of thermodynamic Green's functions is outlined and the method for solving for them at finite temperature is fully discussed.The analytic structure of the phonon Green's function is then considered. This function is shown to be bounded and invertible everywhere off the real axis; a spectral form is derived for its inverse. The symmetries imposed by the point group of the crystal are then discussed.Assuming small ionic oscillations, we find the inverse of the phonon Green's function as a linear function of the electronic contribution to the dielectric response function of the metal. This dielectric function is shown to be simply related to the longitudinal part of the conductivity tensor that gives the response of the electrons to the effective electric field in the metal. The assumption of translational invariance then leads to an explicit expression for the phonon Green's function in terms of this conductivity.The deformations in the lattice induced by an arbitrarily time varying external force are calculated in terms of the retarded phonon Green's function. In the static long wavelength limit the phonon Green's function yields the macroscopic elastic constants of the crystal. Their relation to the conductivity is exhibited, and several elastic constants are estimated. We also see that the complete phonon spectrum and the lifetimes of the phonon states may be calculated from this Green's function. A relation between the long wavelength acoustic attenuation in metals and the de conductivity is derived, which is in good agreement with recent experiments. Furthermore, the ions in a metal are shown to have a high-frequency oscillation along with the electrons, at essentially the electron plasma frequency.     

Electron-phonon drag in degenerate conductors in a magnetic field

Mutual drag of electrons and phonons in degenerate conductors in classical magnetic fields is considered. It is shown that the coupled kinetic equations for nonequilibrium electron and phonon distribution functions can be transformed into a system of Volterra’s inhomogeneous integral equations. A solution is found to the system of integral equations with inclusion of all terms yielding contributions linear in the degeneracy parameter. An analysis is made of the effect of a magnetic field on momentum relaxation in an electron-phonon system.     

Effects of screening of the interaction potential on the mobility characteristics of degenerate surface layers in compound semiconductors at low lattice temperatures

The rates of scattering of the conduction electrons in degenerate two-dimensional electron gas in the surface of compound semiconductors at low lattice temperatures have been obtained for interaction with the piezoelectric and deformation potential acoustic phonons, under different prevailing conditions. The calculations have been carried out taking due account of the screening of the interaction potential at low temperatures where again the phonon energy cannot be neglected in comparison to the average thermal energy of the electrons and, as a result, the equipartition approximation for the phonon distribution can hardly be valid. The scattering rates thus obtained for inversion layers in GaAs and ZnO are found to depend upon the carrier energy, the lattice temperature and the level of degeneracy in quite involved manners, which are very different from what follows if one makes the simplifying approximation of negligible phonon energy or disregards the effects of screening. The mobility characteristics are then obtained using these scattering rates. The results show how the screening of the interaction potential and the finite energy of the intravalley acoustic and piezoelectric phonons significantly change the mobility characteristics of the degenerate surface layers at low lattice temperatures. The inadequacies of the present theory are pointed out and recommendations for possible refinements are discussed.     

Acousto-optical domain generation in CdS under intense laser irradiation and accompanying phenomena

This paper is concerned with the investigation of a longitudinal electric field (1 V/cm) arising in a homogeneous piezo-electric crystal at a high level of optical excitation. The sign of the effect corresponds to free carrier drag (electrons — in the case of CdS) in the direction of light propagation. The magnitude of the effect and its kinetics have been related to the light intensity, temperature, crystal orientation and the distance between the fest points. The effect is assumed to be a result of generation of a phonon packet, referred to by the authors as an acousto-optical domain, and carrier drag by this domain. Calculations based on the Boltzmann kinetic equation for the electron distribution function give a reasonable phonon density inside the domain, necessary for generating the electric field observed. Estimates based on the calculated phonon density show considerable mechanical stresses to exist in the domain area. These can result in the destruction of the crystal when there is an increase in light intensity; so the effect observed can be directly related to the problem of optical strength.     

离子晶格非简谐振动引起的光学非线性与增强吸收型光双稳

处理了光场（电磁场）与离子晶体的非简谐性振动之间的相互作用问题。导出了用简正坐标即声子模式所表达的非线性晶格动力学和非线性宏观极化。在旋转波近似下，得到在入射光驱动下光子－声子耦合体系的总的相干性哈密顿算符。通过相应的静态方程证明该耦合系统会出现增强吸收型光学双稳性，这也就证明了光场与各种玻色子型固体元激发，如光频支声子和半导体中激子的非线性耦合可以作为增强吸收型光双稳的机制。     

Drag effect of one-dimensional electrons upon photoionization of D<Superscript>(−)</Superscript> centers in a longitudinal magnetic field

A theory is elaborated for the impurity photon drag effect in a semiconductor quantum wire exposed to a longitudinal magnetic field B directed along the axis of the quantum wire. The phonon drag effect is associated with the transfer of the longitudinal photon momentum to localized electrons in optical transitions from D^(?) states to hybrid-quantized states of the quantum wire, which is described by a confinement parabolic potential. An analytical expression for the drag current density is derived within the model of a zero-range potential in the effective mass approximation, and the spectral dependence of the drag current density is examined at different magnitudes of B and parameters of the quantum wire upon electron scattering by a system of impurities with short-range potentials. It is established that the spectral dependence of the drag current density exhibits a Zeeman doublet with a clear beak-shaped peak due to optical transitions of electrons from D^(?) states to states with the magnetic quantum number m=1. The possibility of using the photon drag effect in a longitudinal magnetic field for the development of laser radiation detectors is analyzed.     

Atomistic simulation of the motion of dislocations in metals under phonon drag conditions

The mobility of dislocations in the over-barrier motion in different metals (Al, Cu, Fe, Mo) has been investigated using the molecular dynamics method. The phonon drag coefficients have been calculated as a function of the pressure and temperature. The results obtained are in good agreement with the experimental data and theoretical estimates. For face-centered cubic metals, the main mechanism of dislocation drag is the phonon scattering. For body-centered cubic metals, the contribution of the radiation friction becomes significant at room temperature. It has been found that there is a correlation between the temperature dependences of the phonon drag coefficient and the lattice constant. The dependences of the phonon drag coefficient on the pressure have been calculated. In contrast to the other metals, iron is characterized by a sharp increase in the phonon drag coefficient with an increase in the pressure at low temperatures due to the α-∈ phase transition.     

Ultrasonic attenuation in the Gd-doped superconductor LaAl2

The ultrasonic attenuation (10–250MHz) in (LaGd)Al₂ with 0.23at% Gd has been measured between 293 K and 0.5 K. Below 10K the absorption is caused by superposition of phonon/electron absorption of Pippard type and a mechanical relaxation process which is attributed to a lattice defect of either vacancy, dislocation or impurity type. The relaxation takes place by interaction of the defect with both conduction electrons and lattice phonons with a mixed relaxation time. Superconductivity offers the unique chance to separate both relaxation mechanisms since during superconducting transition relaxation into the electronic system vanishes and leaves the phonon process alone to determine the defect dynamics. The temperature dependence of the individual relaxation times has been derived.     

Electron and phonon mechanisms of friction in crystalline solids in atomically close contact at low temperatures

Recent experimental and theoretical studies have shown that an atomically close contact between two crystalline solids can be free from friction of rest in the event that their lattice constants are incommensurate and the interaction at their interface does not exceed a certain threshold value. In this case, the sole mechanisms of friction are the phonon emission and the excitation of conduction electrons. Theoretical estimations of both phonon and electron contributions to the frictional force have been carried out (the latter contribution has been considered both in the normal and superconducting states of metal).     

Phonons and electron-phonon interactions in rare-gas crystals at high pressures

The lattice dynamics of compressed rare-gas crystals is theoretically investigated within the ab initio approach in the framework of the Tolpygo model, which explicitly allows for the deformation of electron shells. The deformation of the electron shells is associated with the retardation of the electron response and treated as a nonadiabaticity (the electron-phonon interaction). This approach and the ab initio short-range repulsive potentials are used to construct the dynamic matrix, which makes it possible to calculate the phonon frequencies and the electron-phonon interaction of crystals in the series Ne-Xe at any point of the Brillouin zone. The contributions of the long-range Coulomb and van der Waals forces to the dynamic matrix are the structure sums that depend only on the lattice type. The structure sums for the face-centered cubic lattice are calculated using the Ewald and Emersleben methods, as well as the direct summation over the vectors of the face-centered cubic lattice. The use of 20 spheres in the last case provides an accuracy of no less than four significant figures. An analysis of the role played by the phonon-electron interaction at five points of high symmetry in the Brillouin zone (X, L, U, K, W) at high pressures demonstrates that not only the longitudinal phonon modes (at the points X and L) but also the transverse phonon modes (at the points U, K, and W) are softened. The inclusion of the electron-phonon interaction at the point X improves agreement between the theoretical and experimental phonon frequencies for the argon crystal.     

On the self-trapping of an electron due to lattice interaction

The problem of the sharpness of the polaron self-trapping transition for a single electron placed in the conduction band of an insulator and interacting with the phonons of the underlying lattice is investigated within the Fröhlich Hamiltonian. It is shown that this phenomenon depends sensitively on the lattice dimensionality, the nature of the electron-phonon coupling, the nature of the phonon dispersion; and on the discrete or the continuum nature of the applicable Hamiltonian.     

Optical polarization of nuclei and ODNMR in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells

Optical orientation of electrons was used to polarize the crystal lattice nuclei in quantum-size heterostructures and to study the effect of the conduction band spin splitting on the spin states of quasi-two-dimensional (2D) electrons drifting in an external electric field. High (～1%) nuclear polarization was registered using polarized luminescence and ODNMR in single GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. Measurement was made of the hyperfine interaction fields created by polarized nuclei on electrons and by electrons on nuclei. The spin-lattice relaxation of nuclei on the non-degenerate 2D electron gas was calculated. A comparison of the theoretical and experimental longitudinal relaxation times permitted the conclusion that the localized charge carriers are responsible for nuclear polarization in quantum wells in the temperature range of 2–77 K. A new effect has been studied, i.e. induction of an effective magnetic field acting on 2D electron spins when electrons drift in an external electric field in the quantum well plane. This effective field B_eff is due to the spin splitting of the conduction band of 2D electrons. The paper discusses possible registration of an ODNMR signal when the field B_eff is modulated by an electric current during optical orientation.     

Interaction in mixed valence compounds

A new Hamiltonian for the interaction of magnetic impurity spin with the conduction electrons is proposed. It is found that the conduction electrons may be condensed into the spin levels. For single impurity, the exact eigenstates are found. In the case of many impurities, virtual electron exchange is predicted for the first time. A single fermion and a single phonon operator interaction leads to hybrid interaction between bands of electrons along with some interesting effects.     

Amplification of light in one-dimensional vibrating metal photonic crystal

Photon–phonon interaction on the analogy of electron–phonon interaction is considered in one-dimensional metal photonic crystal. When lattice vibration is artificially introduced to the photonic crystal, a governing equation of electromagnetic field is derived. A simple model is numerically analyzed, and the following novel phenomena are found out. The lattice vibration generates the light of frequency which added the integral multiple of the vibration frequency to that of the incident wave and also amplifies the incident wave resonantly. On a resonance, the amplification factor increases very rapidly with the number of layers. Resonance frequencies change with the phases of lattice vibration. The amplification phenomenon is analytically discussed for low frequency of the lattice vibration and is confirmed by numerical works.     

Frictional magnetodrag between spatially separated two-dimensional electron systems: Coulomb versus phonon mediated electron-electron interaction

We study the frictional drag due to Coulomb and phonon mediated electron-electron interaction in a double layer electron system exposed to a perpendicular magnetic field. We calculate the transresistivity as a function of magnetic field, temperature, and inter-layer spacing Λ. We find the strikingly different magnetic field and temperature dependence of the transresistivity for Λ=30 and 200 nm and ascribe this to the weak screening effect at large inter-layer separations.