- Letter
Transport and relaxation of current-generated nonequilibrium phonons from nonlocal electronic measurements
Phys. Rev. B 105, L100302 – Published 15 March, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.L100302
Abstract
We study phonons generated by current in a Pt nanowire by measuring the resistance of another nanowire separated from the first one by an insulating spacer. For thin spacers, the resistance varies almost linearly with current at cryogenic temperatures, while an additional quadratic contribution emerges for thicker spacers. These observations suggest a nonthermal distribution of current-generated phonons that relax via strongly nonlinear dynamical processes rather than few-phonon scattering. Our results provide insight into the nonequilibrium phonon dynamics at nanoscale, which may facilitate efficient heat management in electronic nanodevices.
