A mathematical walk into the paradox of Bloch oscillations
Abstract
We describe mathematically the apparently paradoxical phenomenon that an electronic current in a semiconductor can flow because of collisions, and not despite them. A transport model of charge transport in a one-dimensional semiconductor crystal is considered, where each electron follows the periodic hamiltonian trajectories, determined by the semiconductor band structure, and undergoes non-elastic collisions with a phonon bath. Starting from the detailed phase-space model, a closed system of ODEs is obtained for averaged quantities. Such a simplified model is nevertheless capable of describing transient Bloch oscillations, their damping and the consequent onset of a steady current flow, which is in good agreement with the available experimental data.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2006.13703,
title = {A mathematical walk into the paradox of Bloch oscillations},
author = {Luigi Barletti},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.13703},
year = {2020}
}