A mathematical walk into the paradox of Bloch oscillations

We describe mathematically the apparently paradoxical phenomenon that an electronic current in a semiconductor can flow because of collisions, and not despite them. A transport model of charge transport in a one-dimensional semiconductor crystal is considered, where each electron follows the periodic hamiltonian trajectories, determined by the semiconductor band structure, and undergoes non-elastic collisions with a phonon bath. Starting from the detailed phase-space model, a closed system of ODEs is obtained for averaged quantities. Such a simplified model is nevertheless capable of describing transient Bloch oscillations, their damping and the consequent onset of a steady current flow, which is in good agreement with the available experimental data.

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