High-frequency quantum transport

Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

High-frequency quantum transport explores how charge, heat, and light evolve in nanoscale devices on ultrashort time scales, reaching into the terahertz regime. State-of-the-art experiments can already resolve this dynamics on femtosecond time scales [1], bringing us into a regime where stationary and linear-response descriptions are no longer sufficient. I will discuss a theoretical framework based on nonequilibrium Green's functions, combining computationally efficient time evolution schemes with many-body correlations and strong driving [2]. I will highlight some molecular-junction applications with high-harmonic generation and ultrafast thermoelectric energy conversion [3], and discuss how these developments can enable predictive simulations of nanoscale devices at experimentally relevant time scales.

[1] J. W. McIver, et al. Nat. Phys. 16, 38 (2020).
[2] M. Ridley, et al. J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 55, 273001 (2022).
[3] R. Tuovinen and Y. Pavlyukh, Nano Lett. 24, 9096 (2024); PRX Energy 4, 043003 (2025).