Work

Electromechanical Noise in a Diffusive Conductor

Year: 2002

Type: article

Abstract: Electrons moving in a conductor can transfer momentum to the lattice via collisions with impurities and boundaries, giving rise to a fluctuating mechanical stress tensor. The root-mean-squared momentum transfer per scattering event in a disordered metal (of dimension L greater than the mean-free path l and screening length xi) is found to be reduced below the Fermi momentum by a factor of order l/L for shear fluctuations and (xi/L)(2) for pressure fluctuations. The excitation of an elastic bending mode by the shear fluctuations is estimated to fall within current experimental sensitivity for a nanomechanical oscillator.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.88.228303

Authors: A. V. Shytov, L. S. Levitov, C. W. J. Beenakker

Institutions: University of California, Santa Barbara, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Leiden University

Language: English

Topic: Quantum and electron transport phenomena

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Science Foundation, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University, Division of Materials Research

Awards: Institute for Theoretical Physics, MIT Materials Research Science and Engineering Center