Crossover from bias-induced to field-induced breakdowns in one-dimensional band and Mott insulators attached to electrodes

Abstract

Nonequilibrium states induced by an applied bias voltage (V) and the corresponding current-voltage characteristics of one-dimensional models describing band and Mott insulators are investigated theoretically by using nonequilibrium Green's functions. We attach the models to metallic electrodes whose effects are incorporated into the self-energy. Modulation of the electron density and the scalar potential coming from the additional long-range interaction are calculated self-consistently within the Hartree approximation. For both models of band and Mott insulators with length L_C, the bias voltage induces a breakdown of the insulating state, whose threshold shows a crossover depending on L_C. It is determined basically by the bias $V_{th}\sim \Delta$ for L_C smaller than the correlation length $\xi =W/\Delta$ where W denotes the bandwidth and $\Delta$ the energy gap. For systems with $L_C\gg \xi$, the threshold is governed by the electric field, $V_{th}/L_C$, which is consistent with a Landau-Zener-type breakdown, $V_{th}/L_C\propto {\Delta }^2/W$. We demonstrate that the spatial dependence of the scalar potential is crucially important for this crossover by showing the case without the scalar potential, where the breakdown occurs at $V_{th}\sim \Delta$ regardless of the length L_C.

12 pages, 18 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. B

References in corpus (7)

• Non-equilibrium electronic transport in a one-dimensional Mott insulator
• Field-induced metal-insulator transition and switching phenomenon in correlated insulators
• Theory of Non-Equilibirum States Driven by Constant Electromagnetic Fields: Non-Commutative Quantum Mechanics in the Keldysh Formalism
• Nonequilibrium transport and optical properties of model metal--Mott-insulator--metal heterostructures
• Suppression of rectification at metal-Mott-insulator interfaces
• Mechanism of Ambipolar Field-Effect Carrier Injections in One-Dimensional Mott Insulators
• Nonequilibrium Green's-Function Approach to the Suppression of Rectification at Metal--Mott-Insulator Interfaces

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Non-linear doublon production in a Mott insulator --- Landau-Dykhne method applied to an integrable model
• Electronic transport and dynamics in correlated heterostructures
• Photo-induced nonequilibrium states in Mott insulators
• Mott insulator breakdown through pattern formation
• Correlated Insulator Collapse due to Quantum Avalanche via In-Gap Ladder States
• Roles of Potential Gradient and Electrode Bandwidth on Negative Differential Resistance in One-Dimensional Band Insulator
• Spatial behavior in a Mott insulator near the voltage-driven resistive transition
• Nonlinear Conduction by Melting of Stripe-Type Charge Order in Organic Conductors with Triangular Lattices
• Nonequilibrium thermal state of a voltage-biased Mott insulator
• Charge order and possible bias-induced metastable state in the organic conductor β-(meso-DMBEDT-TTF)2PF6: effects of structural distortion
• Probing dielectric breakdown in Mott insulators through current oscillations