Mechanical Stabilization of Nanoscale Conductors by Plasmon Oscillations

Nano Lett. 2020 Jul 8;20(7):5531-5537. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02187. Epub 2020 Jun 23.

Abstract

External driving of the Fermion reservoirs interacting with a nanoscale charge-conductor is shown to enhance its mechanical stability during resonant tunneling. This counterintuitive cooling effect is predicted despite the net energy flow into the device. Field-induced plasmon oscillations stir the energy distribution of charge carriers near the reservoir's chemical potentials into a nonequilibrium state with favored transport of low-energy electrons. Consequently, excess heating of mechanical degrees of freedom in the conductor is suppressed. We demonstrate and analyze this effect for a generic model of mechanical instability in nanoelectronic devices, covering a broad range of parameters. Plasmon-induced stabilization is suggested as a feasible strategy to confront a major problem of current-induced heating and breakdown of nanoscale systems operating far from equilibrium.

Keywords: Floquet Theory; Molecular Junctions; Plasmonics; Quantum Master Equations; Resonant-Transport; Vibrational Heating.