Correlated insulator collapse due to quantum avalanche via in-gap ladder states

Jong E. Han (), Camille Aron, Xi Chen, Ishiaka Mansaray, Jae-Ho Han, Ki-Seok Kim, Michael Randle and Jonathan P. Bird
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Jong E. Han: State University of New York at Buffalo
Camille Aron: Université Paris Cité
Xi Chen: State University of New York at Buffalo
Ishiaka Mansaray: State University of New York at Buffalo
Jae-Ho Han: Institute for Basic Science(IBS)
Ki-Seok Kim: POSTECH
Michael Randle: State University of New York at Buffalo
Jonathan P. Bird: State University of New York at Buffalo

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract The significant discrepancy observed between the predicted and experimental switching fields in correlated insulators under a DC electric field far-from-equilibrium necessitates a reevaluation of current microscopic understanding. Here we show that an electron avalanche can occur in the bulk limit of such insulators at arbitrarily small electric field by introducing a generic model of electrons coupled to an inelastic medium of phonons. The quantum avalanche arises by the generation of a ladder of in-gap states, created by a multi-phonon emission process. Hot-phonons in the avalanche trigger a premature and partial collapse of the correlated gap. The phonon spectrum dictates the existence of two-stage versus single-stage switching events which we associate with charge-density-wave and Mott resistive phase transitions, respectively. The behavior of electron and phonon temperatures, as well as the temperature dependence of the threshold fields, demonstrates how a crossover between the thermal and quantum switching scenarios emerges within a unified framework of the quantum avalanche.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38557-8

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