Adiabaticity in semiclassical nanoelectromechanical systems

We compare the semiclassical description of NEMS within and beyond the adiabatic approximation. We consider a NEMS model which contains a single phonon (oscillator) mode linearly coupled to an electronic few-level system in contact with external particle reservoirs (leads). Using Feynman-Vernon influence functional theory, we derive a Langevin equation for the oscillator trajectory that is non-perturbative in the system-leads coupling. A stationary electronic current through the system generates nontrivial dynamical behavior of the oscillator, even in the adiabatic regime. The ‘backaction’ of the oscillator onto the current is studied as well. For the two simplest cases of one and two coupled electronic levels, we discuss the differences between the adiabatic and the non-adiabatic regime of the oscillator dynamics.