Small polarons

JUN 01, 1982

Excess charges trap themselves in solids or liquids by shifting the surrounding atoms, yielding entities whose behavior sheds light on phenomena ranging from charge solvation to photocarrier survival.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2938044

David Emin

We usually think of electrons in solids and liquids as behaving like free particles whose motion is impeded by occasional collisions. Evidence is now accumulating for charge carriers with qualitatively different behavior. These new charge carriers, in the simplest case, are extra electrons in condensed matter that become trapped in potential wells of their own creation, forming units known as small polarons.

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More about the authors

David Emin, National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico.