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New Mechanism for Electronic Energy Relaxation in Nanocrystals

Ho-Soon Yang·Michael R. Geller·W. M. Dennis
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Abstract

The low-frequency vibrational spectrum of an isolated nanometer-scale solid differs dramatically from that of a bulk crystal, causing the decay of a localized electronic state by phonon emission to be inhibited. We show, however, that an electron can also interact with the rigid translational motion of a nanocrystal. The form of the coupling is dictated by the equivalence principle and is independent of the ordinary electron-phonon interaction. We calculate the rate of nonradiative energy relaxation provided by this mechanism and establish its experimental observability.

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Ho-Soon Yang, Michael R. Geller, W. M. Dennis. 2000-08-15. New Mechanism for Electronic Energy Relaxation in Nanocrystals. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.62.9398

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