Abstract
AbstractElectron propagation in a trapped state between an insulator and a metal during very close contact in a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) system was considered in this study. A single energy level (E0) was assumed for the trap and wave function inside the trap, which is related to the ground state energy. The phase of the waveform in the metal (neglecting the rebound effect at the wall) was assumed very small (δ′ ≪ 1) because of the large size of the metal. The contact distance between the trap and metal is very small, which allows us to ignore the vacuum potential. Based on our results, the probability of finding an electron inside the trap as a function of time was found to be in oscillation (i.e., back-and-forth propagation of the electron between the trap and metal leads to an equilibrium state). These results can be used to understand the quantum mechanisms of continuous contact, particularly in sliding-mode TENG systems.
Highlights
The charge transfer mechanism [1,2,3,4] is typically described by two factors: (i) thermionic emission, i.e., temperatureinduced electron flow [5, 6] in which penetrating charges take longer to reach thermodynamic equilibrium; (ii) tunneling between the metal and trap sites in the insulator [7,8,9]
The results obtained for the close-contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) system showed the oscillation of electron propagation, which is driven by the work function difference between the trap and the metal
Our physical system was described by close contact model between the metal and the trap in the insulator as in, for example, slidingmode triboelectric nanogenerator where contact and separation were not repeated, but close contact was maintained
Summary
The charge transfer mechanism [1,2,3,4] is typically described by two factors: (i) thermionic emission, i.e., temperatureinduced electron flow [5, 6] in which penetrating charges take longer to reach thermodynamic equilibrium; (ii) tunneling between the metal and trap sites in the insulator [7,8,9]. The driving force for a charge transfer can be described based on the work function difference between the materials. The closecontact model used in this work does not use a potential barrier through which electrons can tunnel owing to the charge neutrality on the contact interface (i.e., zero sum charge). In this model, the probability of an electron transfer has been described by a quantum wave function. The result obtained by this model showed that the charge transfer was more similar to a direct propagation, resulting in oscillation, rather than tunneling through the potential barrier of the very-close-contact environment
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