Current–voltage characteristics for point contact composed of two Peierls conductors at finite temperature

Current–voltage (J–V) characteristics are numerically investigated at finite temperature for a point contact consisting of two Peierls conductors (P) separated by an insulator in the conventional tunnel Hamiltonian approach. Here P is a conductor with a charge density wave (CDW). The J–V characteristics depend on the CDW phases in the mean field approximation where the phases (ϕ) and energy gaps (Δ) in both Peierls conductors are assumed to be equal, respectively. The current J is a periodic function of the phase ϕ with a period π, and has a discontinuous jump at eV=2Δ (ϕ≠0). The jump increases as the phase ϕ increases. For 02Δ the current J increases as the phase ϕ increases.