Bloch oscillations in an aperiodic one-dimensional potential

TL;DR

This paper investigates how an electric field induces Bloch oscillations in an electron within a one-dimensional aperiodic potential, revealing unique oscillation features linked to the potential's properties.

Contribution

It demonstrates that electric fields cause sustained Bloch oscillations in aperiodic systems and uncovers their sensitivity to initial conditions and potential characteristics.

Findings

Bloch oscillations are sustained in aperiodic potentials under electric fields.

Oscillation frequency depends on initial wave packet position.

Weak fields produce multimode oscillation structures.

Abstract

We study the dynamics of an electron subjected to a static uniform electric field within a one-dimensional tight-binding model with a slowly varying aperiodic potential. The unbiased model is known to support phases of localized and extended one-electron states separated by two mobility edges. We show that the electric field promotes sustained Bloch oscillations of an initial Gaussian wave packet whose amplitude reflects the band width of extended states. The frequency of these oscillations exhibit unique features, such as a sensitivity to the initial wave packet position and a multimode structure for weak fields, originating from the characteristics of the underlying aperiodic potential.