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Direct Measurement of the Electron Energy Relaxation Dynamics in Metallic Wires

Edouard Pinsolle, Alexandre Rousseau, Christian Lupien, and Bertrand Reulet
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 236601 – Published 8 June 2016
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    Abstract

    We present measurements of the dynamical response of thermal noise to an ac excitation in conductors at low temperature. From the frequency dependence of this response function—the (noise) thermal impedance—in the range 1 kHz–1 GHz we obtain direct determinations of the inelastic relaxation times relevant in metallic wires at low temperature: the electron-phonon scattering time and the diffusion time of electrons along the wires. Combining these results with that of resistivity provides a measurement of heat capacity of samples made of thin film. The simplicity and reliability of this technique makes it very promising for future applications in other systems.

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    • Received 29 March 2016

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.236601

    © 2016 American Physical Society

    Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

    1. Research Areas
    Electron thermal conductivityFluctuations & noisePhononsSpecific heat
    1. Physical Systems
    Thin films
    1. Techniques
    Dilution refrigeratorTransport techniques
    Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

    Authors & Affiliations

    Edouard Pinsolle, Alexandre Rousseau, Christian Lupien, and Bertrand Reulet

    • Département de Physique, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 2R1, Canada

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    Issue

    Vol. 116, Iss. 23 — 10 June 2016

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    • Figure 1
      Figure 1

      Experimental setup. Diode symbol represents a power detector. VNA represents vector network analyzer.

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    • Figure 2
      Figure 2

      Amplitude of the normalized thermal impedance as a function of frequency for sample 2. The symbols are the experimental data and the dashed lines are fits according to Eq. (2). The different curves correspond to different electron temperatures from ≃50  mK to ≃1  K.

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    • Figure 3
      Figure 3

      Energy relaxation rate as a function of electron temperature for all the samples. Dashed lines are fits according to Eq. (7).

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    • Figure 4
      Figure 4

      Electronic heat capacity of sample 2 as a function of temperature. Red triangles are obtained from Γ(Te) and R(0) in the phonon cooled regime. Green triangles are obtained from τD and G in the diffusion cooled regime. Dashed line is the expected value for the free electron gas. Inset: product of the diffusion coefficient D with the diffusion time τD as a function of wire length. The symbols are the experimental data, the dashed line is L2.

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