The effect of thermal fluctuations on Holstein polaron dynamics in electric field

Abstract In this work, we have studied the effects of thermal fluctuations on the stability of polaron motion under the influence of an external electric field. Zero temperature calculations have been reported previously showing the existence of critical electric field, E cr , where the system transitions from a stable polaron motion to a Bloch-like oscillation. In this study, we further report that for intermediate polaron sizes the lifetime of such Bloch-like oscillations decay with time due to excessive phonon emission. Our numerical simulations show that the value of E cr is finite for small temperatures. However, E cr rapidly decreases with increasing T and becomes practically zero for T > T cr . In this small but finite temperature window, we report how temperature affects (a) the electric current density, and (b) the Bloch-like frequencies.