Polaron relaxation in a quantum dot due to anharmonic coupling within a mean-field approach
Abstract
We study the electronic relaxation in a quantum dot within the polaron approach, by focusing on the reversible anharmonic decay of longitudinal optical (LO) phonons forming the polaron into longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonons. The coherent coupling between the LO and LA phonons is treated within a mean-field approach. We derive a temperature-dependent inter-level coupling parameter, related to the Gr\"uneisen parameter and the thermal expansion coefficient, that characterizes an effective decay channel for the electronic (or excitonic) states. Within this theory, we obtain a characteristic anharmonic decay time of 1ns, 2-3 orders of magnitude longer than previous predictions based on the Fermi's Golden Rule. We suggest that coherent relaxation due to carrier-carrier interaction is an efficient alternative to the (too slow) polaron decay.