Regimes of radiative and nonradiative transitions in transport through an electronic system in a photon cavity reaching a steady state

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a multilevel electron system in a photon cavity reaches steady state, identifying regimes dominated by radiative or nonradiative transitions influenced by bias window positioning.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of radiative and nonradiative transition regimes in electron transport within a photon cavity system.

Findings

Nonradiative transitions dominate when cavity states are below bias window.

Radiative transitions become significant depending on bias window placement.

Both transition regimes can trap electrons, affecting steady state formation.

Abstract

We analyze how a multilevel many-electron system in a photon cavity approaches the steady state when coupled to external leads. When a plunger gate is used to lower cavity photon dressed one- and two-electron states below the bias window defined by the external leads, we can identify one regime with nonradiative transitions dominating the electron transport, and another regime with radiative transitions. Both transitions trap the electrons in the states below the bias bringing the system into a steady state. The order of the two regimes and their relative strength depends on the location of the bias window in the energy spectrum of the system and the initial conditions.