Quantum heat current in Terahertz-driven phonon systems

TL;DR

This paper explores how terahertz laser pulses can control quantum phonon systems, revealing non-Markovian effects in heat transfer that could advance quantum material manipulation.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum thermodynamics framework for driven phonons, highlighting non-Markovian dissipation effects under ultrafast laser pulses.

Findings

Ultrafast laser pulses induce significant deviations from Markovian behavior.

The quantum heat current can be dynamically controlled via THz pulse protocols.

Non-Markovian effects are prominent in driven phonon systems.

Abstract

The advent of high-intensity ultrafast laser pulses has opened new opportunities for controlling and designing quantum materials. In particular, terahertz (THz) pulses can resonantly drive optical phonon modes, enabling dynamic manipulation of lattice degrees of freedom. In this work, we investigate the ultrafast quantum thermodynamics of optical phonon mode driven by a THz pulse by treating the phonon as an open quantum system coupled to a thermal environment within a Caldeira-Leggett-type framework. We derive the quantum heat current between the phonon and the bath and analyze its behavior under realistic pulse protocols. Our results demonstrate that ultrafast laser driving can reveal and even induce significant deviations from the commonly adopted Markovian approximation, thereby providing a pathway to probe and control non-Markovian dissipation in driven solid-state systems.