Surface Greens' function in coherent transport calculations

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating surface Green's functions in coherent transport calculations, particularly within the tight-binding approximation. Participants explore various methods for determining self-energies in the context of device Hamiltonians connected to ideal leads, with a focus on graphene as a material example.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their approach to coherent transport calculations and seeks clarification on calculating surface Green's functions, specifically through the recursive Green's function technique.
  • Another participant suggests that the issues encountered may stem from singularities in the surface Green's function and proposes calculating the self-energy directly instead.
  • A third participant asserts that Datta's approach is applicable and discusses the Non-Equilibrium Green's Function Formalism, mentioning the inclusion of magnetic fields and Zeeman splitting.
  • Several participants reference a paper on closed-form solutions to surface Green's functions as a potential resource, noting the existence of both old and new methods for these calculations.
  • There is a brief exchange about the age of the thread, with some participants expressing confusion over the relevance of the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing opinions on the applicability of various methods for calculating surface Green's functions and self-energies. While some suggest that newer methods exist, others maintain that established approaches remain valid. The discussion does not reach a consensus on the best method to use.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention potential limitations related to singularities in the surface Green's function and the implications of including magnetic fields, but these aspects remain unresolved. The discussion also reflects varying levels of familiarity with the topic among participants.

saaskis
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Hi,

I've been reading these forums for quite a while and now it seems like a good moment for my first post. I'm doing simple coherent transport calculations in tight-binding approximation. The device Hamiltonian matrix H_D is connected to two ideal leads, characterized by the unit cell lead Hamiltonian H_0. Let the intercell Hamiltonian be called e.g. V: this connects the lead unit cells to each other and the leads to the device.

The problem is simple: how do I calculate the surface Green's functions needed for the self-energy? I've been reading the books by Datta and Ferry, but the finite-difference methods described there don't seem to be applicable to my case. The material in my mind is graphene, but the problem should be quite general. Could someone e.g. explain in some detail how the recursive Green's function technique (RGF) actually works in my case?

I've been reading also numerous articles, but none of the methods seems to work as simply as I wish :)

I would also appreciate very much references and discussion of different methods to calculate the self-energies.

Thank you so much for any help!
 
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As usual, right after writing this post I found a method that seems to work quite well. The problems I had were probably related to the singularities in the surface Green's function, and they could be avoided by calculating the self-energy directly. The method I used is based on solving the quadratic eigenvalue problem for lead modes, and it remains to be seen how this works after introducing e.g. the magnetic field.

Anyway, I'd still very much appreciate any discussion on the subject :)
 
Datta's approach is still valid in your case. In fact what you describe is the Non-Equilibrium Green's Function Formalism he has developed in his book. I don't think there's any other textbook that treats the matter like him (including the contacts, per se)

There are a number of ways to calculate the self-energies. One way is to use the recursive method (as explained in QTAT). Or you could solve the quadratic eigenvalue problem as you said.

The formalism is quite general and inclusion of the magnetic field simply introduces Zeeman splitting in the Hamiltonian if you are not dealing with spin-orbit interaction and working in the non-relativistic limit.

Thanks,
 
Hi
I had your problem with surface green function, surface green's function calculation is the important part o coherent calculation
There is some old method, there is a new method which is simple and effective
see 'closed-form solutions to surface green's functions';'PHYSICAL REVIEW B vol55 5266'
best wishes
 
Hi
I had your problem with surface green function, surface green's function calculation is the important part o coherent calculation
There is some old method, there is a new method which is simple and effective
see 'closed-form solutions to surface green's functions';'PHYSICAL REVIEW B vol55 5266'
best wishes
 
Noe that this is a very old thread.
 
Hi
OLD?
I said it is new, I meant it is newer than other method(like decimiation)
Ok
 
I said:

You are replying to a very OLD THREAD nobody is actively participating in.

I will check the paper you posted,

Thanks
 
I am sorry
My English is poor
 

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