Scattering Theory Approach to Inelastic Transport in Nanoscale Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a scattering-state framework for analyzing inelastic charge transport in nanoscale systems with electron-vibration interactions, clarifying the roles of elastic and inelastic processes and deriving conductance variation expressions.

Contribution

It develops a scattering-state approach for non-equilibrium inelastic transport, offering new insights into scattering processes and a general conductance variation formula.

Findings

Clarifies the interplay of elastic and inelastic scattering in charge transport.

Derives a general expression for conductance variations in single-channel systems.

Provides a comprehensive understanding of the 0.5 rule in conductance changes.

Abstract

We present a scattering-state description for the non-equilibrium multichannel charge transport in the presence of electron-vibration couplings. It is based on an expansion of scattering orders of eigenchannel states. Examining charge transitions between scattering states, we clarifies competing inelastic and elastic scattering processes, and compare with the interpretation based on the non-equilibrium Green's functions formalism. We also derive a general expression for conductance variations in single-channel systems. It provides a comprehensive picture for the variation including the well-known result, the 0.5 rule, from the aspect of interplay between elastic and inelastic scattering processes.