Quantum Interactions in Nanostructures

Forces on nuclei induced by the flow of current is a problem that has been investigated by our research group for many years. In a world where technological devices are becoming ever smaller, it is essential to have a firm grasp of how these nuclear dynamics may be influenced by current flow on the nanoscale.  This starts from the knowledge that these potentially very large current-induced forces on atoms are nonconservative in nature and therefore can do net work on atoms around closed paths. This leads to the description of essential phenomena such as electromigration which requires consideration when discussing nanoscale conduction. Surrounding this theory there have been approximations made in relation to how electronic interactions are treated. Previously they have been either neglected completely or applied within a mean field capacity.

For this project, we are concerned with how electronic interactions are modelled. This starts with a mean field approximation with aims of moving beyond to include the influence of electron-electron correlation, an addition which has yet to be considered.  In this way we aim to answer the question:  how do electron-electron correlations influence the nonconservativeness of current-induced forces on nuclei?

Biography

I started my PhD within the Atomistic Simulation Centre in October 2020 after graduating with a First Class Honors in my Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Physics at QUB in June 2020. My Master’s project was completed within the Atomistic Simulation Centre with Dr Piotr Chudzinski and Dr Tchavdar Todorov which inspired me to pursue further study within the same research group.

Research interests

• Current-Induced Nonconservative Forces
• Electron-Electron Correlation
• Nonequilibrium Green’s Functions