Mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm Interferometers:Decoherence and Thermoelectric Transport

TL;DR

This paper investigates how decoherence and inelastic interactions affect thermoelectric transport in mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm interferometers, revealing flux-dependent transport coefficients and the impact of molecular vibrations.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of decoherence mechanisms and thermoelectric transport properties in Aharonov-Bohm rings with molecular bridges, including inelastic electron-vibration interactions.

Findings

Transport coefficients depend on A-B flux and inelastic interactions.

Inelastic processes induce coupled charge and heat currents.

Decoherence effects are significant in thermoelectric performance.

Abstract

Two important features of mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm (A-B) electronic interferometers are analyzed: decoherence due to coupling with other degrees of freedom and the coupled transport of charge and heat. We first review the principles of decoherence of electronic interference. We then analyze the thermoelectric transport in a ring threaded by such a flux, with a molecular bridge on one of its arms. The charge carriers may also interact inelastically with the molecular vibrations. This nano-system is connected to three termi- nals; two of them are electric and thermal, held at slightly different chemical potentials and temperatures, and the third is purely thermal. For example, a phonon bath thermalizing the molecular vibrations. When this third terminal is held at a temperature different from those of the electronic reservoirs, both an electrical and a heat current are, in general, gen- erated between the latter. Likewise, a voltage and/or temperature difference between the electronic terminals leads to thermal current between the thermal and electronic terminals. The transport coefficients governing these conversions (due to energy exchange between the electrons and the vibrations) and their dependences on the A-B flux are analyzed. Finally, the decoherence due to these inelastic events is discussed.