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Modulated interfacial disorder scattering in quantum wells and its device applications
Author(s) -
Bhobe Suyog,
Porod Wolfgang,
Bandyopadhyay Supriyo,
Kirkner David J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.740141005
Subject(s) - electron , momentum (technical analysis) , scattering , wave function , physics , relaxation (psychology) , condensed matter physics , dopant , electron mobility , quantum well , computational physics , doping , atomic physics , quantum mechanics , psychology , social psychology , finance , economics , laser
We investigate the nature of the electronic states and transient transport in a single, selectively doped, GaAs quantum well where the dopants are confined near one of the interfaces. The electronic states are calculated from self‐consistent solutions of the Schrödinger and Poisson equations and are used to compute the scattering rates for electrons interacting with the dopants. These scattering rates are then used in a Monte Carlo simulation to study the time‐dependent decay of the momentum of an ensemble of electrons traveling parallel to the interface. We also investigate the momentum relaxation of electrons injected into the well under different transverse electric fields that skew the wavefunction towards one of the interfaces. When the wavefunction is skewed away from the doped interface, the momentum relaxation time (and hence the mobility) increases dramatically by three orders of magnitude. A device application of this phenomenon, namely the operation of a velocity modulation transistor (VMT), has been investigated, with special focus on the transistor's switching speed.