Floquet Nonadiabatic Nuclear Dynamics with Photoinduced Lorenz-Like Force in Quantum Transport

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Floquet electronic friction model that reveals how periodic driving induces Lorenz-like forces affecting nuclear motion and electron transport in quantum systems, with implications for controlling molecular dynamics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the emergence of anti-symmetric electronic friction and Lorenz-like forces due to Floquet driving, a novel insight into nonadiabatic dynamics near metal surfaces.

Findings

Floquet driving induces circular nuclear motion.

Temperature of nuclei can be increased or decreased by Floquet driving.

An optimal frequency maximizes electron current.

Abstract

In our recent paper [Mosallanejad et al., Phys. Rev. B 107(18), 184314, 2023], we have derived a Floquet electronic friction model to describe nonadiabatic molecular dynamics near metal surfaces in the presence of periodic driving. In this work, we demonstrate that Floquet driving can introduce an anti-symmetric electronic friction tensor in quantum transport, resulting in circular motion of the nuclei in the long time limit. Furthermore, we show that such a Lorentz-like force strongly affects nuclear motion: at lower voltage bias, Floquet driving can increase the temperature of nuclei; at larger voltage bias, Floquet driving can decrease the temperature of nuclei. In addition, Floquet driving can affect electron transport strenuously. Finally, we show that there is an optimal frequency that maximizes electron current. We expect that the Floquet electronic friction model is a powerful tool to study nonadiabatic molecular dynamics near metal surfaces under Floquet driving in complex systems.