arXiv · 1111.6462
Umklapp-Assisted Electron Transport Oscillations in Metal Superlattices
Abstract
We consider a superlattice of parallel metal tunnel junctions with a spatially non-homogeneous probability for electrons to tunnel. In such structures tunneling can be accompanied by electron scattering that conserves energy but not momentum. In the special case of a tunneling probability that varies periodically with period $a$ in the longitudinal direction, i.e., perpendicular to the junctions, electron tunneling is accompanied by "umklapp" scattering, where the longitudinal momentum changes by a multiple of $h/a$. We predict that as a result a sequence of metal-insulator transitions can be induced by an external electric- or magnetic field as the field strength is increased.
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S. I. Kulinich, L. Y. Gorelik, S. A. Gredeskul, R. I. Shekhter, M. Jonson. 2011-11-28. Umklapp-Assisted Electron Transport Oscillations in Metal Superlattices. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.85.184202
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