2021/02/11 by Fabio Caruso
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #2D Materials and Applications #Advanced Chemical Physics Studies #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #Brillouin zone #Condensed matter physics #Diffraction #Electron #Non-equilibrium thermodynamics #Phonon #Phonon scattering #Physics #Population #Quantum mechanics #Reciprocal lattice #Scattering #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c03616
published as J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 12, 1734-1740 (2021)
arxiv created 2021/02/11 · openalex publication_date 2021/02/11 · arxiv updated 2021/02/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
is investigated by combining first-principles calculations of the electron-phonon and phonon-phonon interactions with the time-dependent Boltzmann equation. Strict phase-space constraints in the electron-phonon scattering are found to influence profoundly the decay path of excited electrons and holes, restricting the emission of phonons to crystal momenta close to a few high-symmetry points in the Brillouin zone. As a result of momentum selectivity in the phonon emission, the nonequilibrium lattice dynamics is characterized by the emergence of a highly anisotropic population of phonons in reciprocal space, which persists for up to 10 ps until thermal equilibrium is restored by phonon-phonon scattering. Achieving control of the nonequilibrium dynamics of the lattice may provide unexplored opportunities to selectively enhance the phonon population of two-dimensional crystals and, thereby, transiently tailor electron-phonon interactions over subpicosecond time scales.