1203.3540 (Camille Aron)

Dielectric Breakdown of a Mott Insulator    [PDF]

Camille Aron

We study the non-equilibrium steady state of a Mott insulator coupled to a thermostat and driven by a constant electric field, starting from weak fields, until the dielectric breakdown, and beyond. We find that the conventional Zener picture does not describe the steady-state physics. In particular, the current at weak field is found to be controlled by the dissipation. Moreover, in connection with the electric field driven dimensional crossover, we find that the dielectric breakdown occurs when the field strength is on the order of the Mott gap of the corresponding lower dimensional system. We also report a resonance and the melt-down of the quasi-particle peak when the field strength is half of this Mott gap.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1203.3540