Polaron

polaron [′pō·lə‚rän]

(solid-state physics)

An electron in a crystal lattice together with a cloud of phonons that result from the deformation of the lattice produced by the interaction of the electron with ions or atoms in the lattice.

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Polaron

The object that results when an electron in the conduction band of a crystalline insulator or semiconductor polarizes or otherwise deforms the lattice in its vicinity. The polaron comprises the electron plus its surrounding lattice deformation. (Polarons can also be formed from holes in the valence band.) If the deformation extends over many lattice sites, the polaron is “large,” and the lattice can be treated as a continuum. Charge carriers inducing strongly localized lattice distortions form “small” polarons. See Band theory of solids, Hole states in solids, Semiconductor

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Polaron 

an electron moving through a crystal together with the lattice distortion caused by the electron. The concept was introduced by the Soviet physicist S. I. Pekar. The polaron is a compound quasiparticle and consists of the electron with its associated phonons. The introduction of the polaron permits certain properties of dielectrics and semiconductors to be explained.