Warming in systems with discrete spectrum: spectral diffusion of two dimensional electrons in magnetic field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electric fields cause non-thermal electron distributions in two-dimensional conductors with discrete spectra, leading to significant changes in conductivity and effective overheating beyond traditional temperature-based descriptions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that electric fields induce non-equilibrium electron states in systems with discrete spectra, drastically affecting conductivity and overheating behavior.

Findings

Electric fields produce non-thermal electron distributions.

Discreet spectrum systems exhibit stronger overheating.

Conductivity can reach zero differential resistance.

Abstract

Warming in complex physical systems, in particular global warming, attracts significant contemporary interest. It is essential, therefore, to understand basic physical mechanisms leading to overheating. It is well known that application of an electric field to conductors heats electric charge carriers. Often an elevated electron temperature describes the result of the heating. This paper demonstrates that an electric field applied to a conductor with discrete electron spectrum produces a non-equilibrium electron distribution, which cannot be described by temperature. Such electron distribution changes dramatically the conductivity of highly mobile two dimensional electrons in a magnetic field, forcing them into a state with a zero differential resistance. Most importantly the results demonstrate that, in general, the effective overheating in the systems with discrete spectrum is significantly stronger than the one in systems with continuous and homogeneous distribution of the energy levels at the same input power.