Work

Nonequilibrium Electron Distribution Function in a Voltage-Biased Nanowire: A Nonequilibrium Green’s Function Approach

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We develop a theoretical framework to determine distribution functions in nonequilibrium systems coupled to equilibrium reservoirs, by using the nonequilibrium Green's function technique. As a paradigmatic example, we consider the nonequilibrium distribution function in a nanowire under a bias voltage. We model the system as a tight-binding chain connected to reservoirs with different electrochemical potentials at both ends. For electron scattering processes in the wire, we consider both elastic scattering from impurities and inelastic scattering from phonons within the self-consistent Born approximation. We demonstrate that the nonequilibrium distribution functions, as well as the electrostatic potential profiles, in various scattering regimes are well described within our framework. This scheme will contribute to advancing our understanding of quantum many-body phenomena driven by nonequilibrium distribution functions that have different functional forms from the equilibrium ones.

Source: Journal of the Physical Society of Japan

DOI: 10.7566/jpsj.95.034702

Authors: Taira Kawamura, Yusuke Kato

Institutions: Nihon University, The University of Tokyo

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: green

Funders: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Institute for Molecular Science

Awards: G2956609755, Theoretical study on nonequilibrium phase transitions associated with the formation of quantum dissipative structures in a driven-dissipative quantum many-body system, G5238543726, G8694808977