Electron-phonon relaxation in a model of a granular film

Abstract

We study the electron-phonon relaxation in the model of a granular metal film, where the grains are formed by regularly arranged potential barriers of arbitrary transparency. The relaxation rate of Debye acoustic phonons is calculated, taking into account two mechanisms of electron-phonon scattering: the standard Fröhlich interaction of the lattice deformation with the electron density and the interaction mediated by the displacement of grain boundaries dragged by the lattice vibration. At the lowest temperatures, the electron-phonon cooling power follows the power-law temperature dependence typical for clean systems but with the prefactor growing as the transparency of the grain boundaries decreases.

9 pages, 5 figures (minor revision, role of inelastic processes discussed)

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