138 research outputs found
First-Matsubara-frequency rule in a Fermi liquid. Part II: Optical conductivity and comparison to experiment
Motivated by recent optical measurements on a number of strongly correlated
electron systems, we revisit the dependence of the conductivity of a Fermi
liquid, \sigma(\Omega,T), on the frequency \Omega and temperature T. Using the
Kubo formalism and taking full account of vertex corrections, we show that the
Fermi liquid form Re\sigma^{-1}(\Omega,T)\propto \Omega^2+4\pi^2T^2 holds under
very general conditions, namely in any dimensionality above one, for a Fermi
surface of an arbitrary shape (but away from nesting and van Hove
singularities), and to any order in the electron-electron interaction. We also
show that the scaling form of Re\sigma^{-1}(\Omega,T) is determined by the
analytic properties of the conductivity along the Matsubara axis. If a system
contains not only itinerant electrons but also localized degrees of freedom
which scatter electrons elastically, e.g., magnetic moments or resonant levels,
the scaling form changes to Re\sigma^{-1}(\Omega,T)\propto \Omega^2+b\pi^2T^2,
with 1\leq b<\infty. For purely elastic scattering, b =1. Our analysis implies
that the value of b\approx 1, reported for URu_2Si_2 and some rare-earth based
doped Mott insulators, indicates that the optical conductivity in these
materials is controlled by an elastic scattering mechanism, whereas the values
of b\approx 2.3 and b\approx 5.6, reported for underdoped cuprates and
organics, correspondingly, imply that both elastic and inelastic mechanisms
contribute to the optical conductivity.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure
Relaxation of high-energy quasiparticle distributions: electron-electron scattering in a two-dimensional electron gas
A theory is developed for the evolution of the non-equilibrium distribution
of quasiparticles when the scattering rate decreases due to particle
collisions. We propose a "modified one-collision approximation" which is most
effective for high-energy quasiparticle distributions. This method is used to
explain novel measurements of the non-monotonic energy dependence of the signal
of scattered electrons in a 2D system. The observed effect is related to a
crossover from the ballistic to the hydrodynamic regime of electron flow.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Effects of Electron-Electron Scattering on Electron-Beam Propagation in a Two-Dimensional Electron-Gas
We have studied experimentally and theoretically the influence of
electron-electron collisions on the propagation of electron beams in a
two-dimensional electron gas for excess injection energies ranging from zero up
to the Fermi energy. We find that the detector signal consists of
quasiballistic electrons, which either have not undergone any electron-electron
collisions or have only been scattered at small angles. Theoretically, the
small-angle scattering exhibits distinct features that can be traced back to
the reduced dimensionality of the electron system. A number of nonlinear
effects, also related to the two-dimensional character of the system, are
discussed. In the simplest situation, the heating of the electron gas by the
high-energy part of the beam leads to a weakening of the signal of
quasiballistic electrons and to the appearance of thermovoltage. This results
in a nonmonotonic dependence of the detector signal on the intensity of the
injected beam, as observed experimentally.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Angle-Resolved Spectroscopy of Electron-Electron Scattering in a 2D System
Electron-beam propagation experiments have been used to determine the energy
and angle dependence of electron-electron (ee) scattering a two-dimensional
electron gas (2DEG) in a very direct manner by a new spectroscopy method. The
experimental results are in good agreement with recent theories and provide
direct evidence for the differences between ee-scattering in a 2DEG as compared
with 3D systems. Most conspicuous is the increased importance of small-angle
scattering in a 2D system, resulting in a reduced (but energy-dependent)
broadening of the electron beam.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Conductivity of the classical two-dimensional electron gas
We discuss the applicability of the Boltzmann equation to the classical
two-dimensional electron gas. We show that in the presence of both the
electron-impurity and electron-electron scattering the Boltzmann equation can
be inapplicable and the correct result for conductivity can be different from
the one obtained from the kinetic equation by a logarithmically large factor.Comment: Revtex, 3 page
Non-Magnetic Spinguides and Spin Transport in Semiconductors
We propose the idea of a "spinguide", i.e. the semiconductor channel which is
surrounded with walls from the diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) with the
giant Zeeman splitting which are transparent for electrons with the one spin
polarization only. These spinguides may serve as sources of a spin-polarized
current in non-magnetic conductors, ultrafast switches of a spin polarization
of an electric current and, long distances transmission facilities of a spin
polarization (transmission distances can exceed a spin-flip length). The
selective transparence of walls leads to new size effects in transport.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
A Magnetic-Field-Effect Transistor and Spin Transport
A magnetic-field-effect transistor is proposed that generates a
spin-polarized current and exhibits a giant negative magnetoresitance. The
device consists of a nonmagnetic conducting channel (wire or strip) wrapped, or
sandwiched, by a grounded magnetic shell. The process underlying the operation
of the device is the withdrawal of one of the spin components from the channel,
and its dissipation through the grounded boundaries of the magnetic shell,
resulting in a spin-polarized current in the nonmagnetic channel. The device
may generate an almost fully spin-polarized current, and a giant negative
magnetoresistance effect is predicted.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
The electrical resistance of spatially varied magnetic interface. The role of normal scattering
We investigate the diffusive electron transport in conductors with spatially
inhomogeneous magnetic properties taking into account both impurity and normal
scattering. It is found that the additional interface resistance that arises
due to the magnetic inhomogeneity depends essentially on their spatial
characteristics. The resistance is proportional to the spin flip time in the
case when the magnetic properties of the conducting system vary smoothly enough
along the sample. It can be used to direct experimental investigation of spin
flip processes. In the opposite case, when magnetic characteristics are varied
sharply, the additional resistance depends essentially on the difference of
magnetic properties of the sides far from the interface region. The resistance
increases as the frequency of the electron-electron scattering increases. We
consider also two types of smooth interfaces: (i) between fully spin-polarized
magnetics and usual magnetic (or non-magnetic) conductors, and (ii) between two
fully oppositely polarized magnetic conductors. It is shown that the interface
resistance is very sensitive to appearing of the fully spin-polarized state
under the applied external field
Hydrodynamic electron flow in high-mobility wires
Hydrodynamic electron flow is experimentally observed in the differential
resistance of electrostatically defined wires in the two-dimensional electron
gas in (Al,Ga)As heterostructures. In these experiments current heating is used
to induce a controlled increase in the number of electron-electron collisions
in the wire. The interplay between the partly diffusive wire-boundary
scattering and the electron-electron scattering leads first to an increase and
then to a decrease of the resistance of the wire with increasing current. These
effects are the electronic analog of Knudsen and Poiseuille flow in gas
transport, respectively. The electron flow is studied theoretically through a
Boltzmann transport equation, which includes impurity, electron-electron, and
boundary scattering. A solution is obtained for arbitrary scattering
parameters. By calculation of flow profiles inside the wire it is demonstrated
how normal flow evolves into Poiseuille flow. The boundary-scattering
parameters for the gate-defined wires can be deduced from the magnitude of the
Knudsen effect. Good agreement between experiment and theory is obtained.Comment: 25 pages, RevTeX, 9 figure
- …