Electron-phonon coupling and longitudinal mechanical-mode cooling in a metallic nanowire

F. W. J. Hekking, A. O. Niskanen, J. P. Pekola

Published 2007-10-01Version 1

We investigate electron-phonon coupling in a narrow suspended metallic wire, in which the phonon modes are restricted to one dimension but the electrons behave three-dimensionally. Explicit theoretical results related to the known bulk properties are derived. We find out that longitudinal vibration modes can be cooled by electronic tunnel refrigeration far below the bath temperature provided the mechanical quality factors of the modes are sufficiently high. The obtained results apply to feasible experimental configurations.