2001/10/29 by A. V. Shytov, Leonid Levitov, L. S. Levitov +1
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Carbon Nanotubes in Composites #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #cond-mat.mes-hall
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.88.228303
published as Phys.Rev.Lett. 88, 228303 (2002) · 4 pages including 1 figure
arxiv created 2001/10/29 · openalex publication_date 2002/05/17 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
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.