Interaction and Size Effects in Open Nano-Electromechanical Systems

The time-dependent transport of a 2D quantum wire (QW) connected to source/drain leads and electrostatically coupled to a singly-clamped InAs cantilever is investigated. The latter is placed above the nanowire and acts as a nanoresonator (NR) in the quantum regime. The vibron dynamics and the transport properties of this nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) are described within a generalized master equation approach which is exact with respect to the electron-vibron coupling. A detailed description of the electron-vibron coupling by taking into account its dependence on the wavefunctions of the quantum nanowire is introduced. It is shown that the tunneling processes in the QW trigger periodic oscillations of the average vibron number even in the absence of a bias. The time-dependent filling of the vibronic states changes as the nanoresonator is swept along the quantum wire.