THERMALIZATION IN A SYSTEM WITH A CONTINUOUS-SPECTRUM OF STATES

Thermal relaxation of electronic or atomic systems characterized by a continuous density of states following an abrupt quenching from initial temperature to a lower value is analyzed in the frame of the multiple trapping model. Thermalization is shown to satisfy the dispersive law, but in contrast to the dispersive transport results the dispersion parameter depends on the initial and final temperatures only and is independent of the energy distribution of states. The general approach is applied to the hydrogen subsystem in a-Si:H.