The simulation shows a charge carrier moving through a deformable lattice, visualizing how the surrounding ions polarize into a trailing cloud whose depth and extent grow with coupling strength, transitioning from a light, mobile large polaron to a heavy, self-trapped small polaron.
Use the coupling-strength slider to tune alpha from weak to strong, and the temperature or lattice-stiffness slider to see how the polarization cloud and effective mass respond in real time.
Sliders for electron-phonon coupling strength and lattice temperature/stiffness
In some polaronic oxides the effective mass can be enhanced by more than a factor of ten, meaning the polaron is effectively pinned in place unless it absorbs enough thermal energy to hop to a neighboring site.
The simulation shows a charge carrier moving through a deformable lattice, visualizing how the surrounding ions polarize into a trailing cloud whose depth and extent grow with coupling strength, transitioning from a light, mobile large polaron to a heavy, self-trapped small polaron.
The simulation shows a charge carrier moving through a deformable lattice, visualizing how the surrounding ions polarize into a trailing cloud whose depth and extent grow with coupling strength, transitioning from a light, mobile large polaron to a heavy, self-trapped small polaron.
Use the coupling-strength slider to tune alpha from weak to strong, and the temperature or lattice-stiffness slider to see how the polarization cloud and effective mass respond in real time.
In some polaronic oxides the effective mass can be enhanced by more than a factor of ten, meaning the polaron is effectively pinned in place unless it absorbs enough thermal energy to hop to a neighboring site.