Release of the Joule Heat upon Passage
of the Electric Current in Nanostructures
(A Review)

V. L. Gurevich and M. I. Muradov*

Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Politekhnicheskaya ul. 26, St. Petersburg, 194021 Russia

* e-mail: mag.muradov@mail.ioffe.ru

Received August 11, 2011

Abstract—The generation of the Joule heat upon collisionless passage of the direct and alternating electric cur-
rents in semiconductor quantum wires connecting two classical reservoirs has been discussed. The transverse
dimension of the quantum wire is of the order of the de Broglie wavelength of conduction electrons. The spatial
distribution of the Joule heat has been considered. The heat is released in the reservoirs at a distance of the elec-
tron mean free path. The total production of the Joule heat has been found to be identical in both reservoirs.

DOI: 10.1134/S1063783412040099

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