Physical and Mathematical Models of Quantum Dielectric Relaxation in Electrical and Optoelectric Elements Based on Hydrogen-Bonded Crystals

Abstract

The quantum statistical properties of the proton subsystem in hydrogen-bonded crystals (HBC) are investigated. Based on the non-stationary Liouville operator equation (taking into account a number of assumptions established in the experiment), a quantum kinetic equation is constructed for the ensemble of non-interacting protons (an ideal proton gas) moving in the crystal potential image perturbed by the external electric field. The balanced density matrix for the unperturbed proton subsystem is constructed using the quantum canonical Gibbs distribution, and the non-balanced density matrix is calculated from the solutions of the nonlinear quantum kinetic equation by methods in linear approximation of perturbation theory for the blocking electrode model. Full quantum mechanical averaging of the polarization operator makes it possible to study the theoretical frequency-temperature spectra of the complex dielectric permittivity (CDP) calculated using quantum relaxation parameters that differ significantly from their semiclassical counterparts. A scheme is presented for an analytical study of the dielectric loss tangent in the region of quantum nonlinear relaxation in HBC. The results obtained in the given paper are of scientific interest in developing the theoretical foundations of proton conduction processes in energy-independent memory elements (with anomalously high residual polarization) based on thin films of ferroelectric materials in the ultralow temperature range (1–10 K). The theoretical results obtained have a direct application to the study of the tunneling mechanisms of spontaneous polarization in ferroelectric HBC with a rectangular hysteresis loop, in particular in crystals of potassium dideutrophosphate (KDP), widely used in nonlinear optics and laser technology. The quantum properties of proton relaxation in HBC can be applied in the future to the study of solid-state electrolytes with high proton conductivity for hydrogen energy, capacitor technology (superionics, varicodes), and elements of MIS and MSM structures in the development of resonant tunnel diodes for microelectronics and computer technology.

Keywords

• hydrogen-bonded crystals (HBC)
• proton semiconductors and dielectrics (PSD)
• quantum diffusion polarization
• quantum transparency
• potential barrier
• Gibbs’s quantum canonical distribution