Electron energy relaxation in low-dimensional systems

The physics and technology of low-dimensional structures has experienced considerable advancement over the last decade. While the electronic and optical phonon properties of these systems have attracted much attention, investigations of the acoustic phonon properties are less extensive. In this paper the characteristics of acoustic phonons in small metal structures, and their influence on electronic properties will be addressed. Electron transport measurements that have been used to investigate acoustic phonon confinement and electron energy relaxation in metal wires and films are presented.