Microscopic theory of photon-induced energy, momentum, and angular momentum transport in the nonequilibrium regime

Yong-Mei Zhang, Tao Zhu, Zu-Quan Zhang, and Jian-Sheng Wang
Phys. Rev. B 105, 205421 – Published 16 May 2022

Abstract

We set up a general microscopic theory for the transfer of energy, momentum, and angular momentum mediated by photons. Using the nonequilibrium Green's function method, we propose a unified Meir-Wingreen formalism for the energy emitted, force experienced, and torque experienced by the objects due to the fluctuating electromagnetic field. Our theory does not require the local thermal equilibrium that is the central assumption of the conventional theory of fluctuational electrodynamics (FE). The obtained formulas are valid for arbitrary objects as well as the environment without the requirement of reciprocity. To show the capability of our microscopic theory, we apply the general formulas to transport problems of graphene edges in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium situations. We show the local equilibrium energy radiation of graphene obeys the well-known T4 law with a converged theoretical emissivity of 2.058%. In the ballistic nonequilibrium situation driven by chemical potential biases, we observe nonzero results for force and torque from the graphene edges, which go beyond the predictive ability of the FE theory. Our method is general and efficient for large systems, which paves the way for studying more complex transport phenomena in the nonequilibrium regime.

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  • Received 17 August 2021
  • Revised 16 October 2021
  • Accepted 6 April 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.205421

©2022 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Yong-Mei Zhang1, Tao Zhu2,3,4,*, Zu-Quan Zhang2,5, and Jian-Sheng Wang2

  • 1College of Science, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jiangsu 210016, People's Republic of China
  • 2Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117551, Republic of Singapore
  • 3School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, People's Republic of China
  • 4Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
  • 5Department of Physics, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China

  • *zhutao@tiangong.edu.cn; phyzht@outlook.com

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Vol. 105, Iss. 20 — 15 May 2022

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