Image charge effects in the nonequilibrium Anderson-Holstein model

Image charge effects in nanoscale junctions with strong electron-phonon coupling open the way to unexplored physical scenarios. We propose a simple and still accurate many-body approach to deal with the simultaneous occurrence of the Franck-Condon blockade and the screening-induced enhancement of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Condensed matter and materials physics, 2013-12, Vol.88 (24), Article 245437
Main Authors: Perfetto, E., Stefanucci, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blocking
Charge
Condensed matter
Electric charge
Exact solutions
Image charge
Mathematical analysis
Polarons
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Summary:Image charge effects in nanoscale junctions with strong electron-phonon coupling open the way to unexplored physical scenarios. We propose a simple and still accurate many-body approach to deal with the simultaneous occurrence of the Franck-Condon blockade and the screening-induced enhancement of the polaron mobility. A transparent analytic expression for the polaron decay rate is derived and the dependence on the strength and range of the screening is highlighted. This allows us to interpret and explain several transient and steady-state features of the electrical current. Remarkably, we find that the competition between the charge blocking due to the electron-phonon interaction and the charge deblocking due to the image charges gives rise to a novel mechanism of negative differential conductance. An experimental setup to observe this phenomenon is discussed.
ISSN:1098-0121
1550-235X
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.88.245437