Low-Dimensional Semiconductor Structures offers a seamless, atoms-to-devices introduction to the latest quantum heterostructures. It covers their fabrication; electronic, optical, and transport properties; role in exploring new physical phenomena; and utilization in devices. The authors describe the epitaxial growth of semiconductors and the physical behavior of electrons and phonons in low-dimensional structures. They then go on to discuss nonlinear optics in quantum heterostructures. The final chapters deal with semiconductor lasers, mesoscopic devices, and high-speed heterostructure devices. The book contains many exercises and comprehensive references.
Experimental progress over the past few years has made it possible to test a n- ber of fundamental physical concepts related to the motion of electrons in low dimensions. The production and experimental control of novel structures with typical sizes in the sub-micrometer regime has now become possible. In parti- lar, semiconductors are widely used in order to con?ne the motion of electrons in two-dimensional heterostructures. The quantum Hall e?ect was one of the ?rst highlights of the new physics that is revealed by this con?nement. In a further step of the technological development in semiconductor-heterostructures, other arti?cial devices such as quasi one-dimensional ‘quantum wires’ and ‘quantum dots’ (arti?cial atoms) have also been produced. These structures again di?er very markedly from three- and two-dimensional systems, especially in relation to the transport of electrons and the interaction with light. Although the technol- ical advances and the experimental skills connected with these new structures are progressing extremely fast, our theoretical understanding of the physical e?ects (such as the quantum Hall e?ect) is still at a very rudimentary level. In low-dimensional structures, the interaction of electrons with one another and with other degrees of freedoms such as lattice vibrations or light gives rise to new phenomena that are very di?erent from those familiar in the bulk ma- rial. The theoretical formulation of the electronic transport properties of small devices may be considered well-established, provided interaction processes are neglected.
This book originated out of a desire to provide students with an instrument which might lead them from knowledge of elementary classical and quantum physics to moderntheoreticaltechniques for the analysisof electrontransport in semiconductors. The book is basically a textbook for students of physics, material science, and electronics. Rather than a monograph on detailed advanced research in a speci?c area, it intends to introduce the reader to the fascinating ?eld of electron dynamics in semiconductors, a ?eld that, through its applications to electronics, greatly contributed to the transformationof all our lives in the second half of the twentieth century, and continues to provide surprises and new challenges. The ?eld is so extensive that it has been necessary to leave aside many subjects, while others could be dealt with only in terms of their basic principles. The book is divided into ?ve major parts. Part I moves from a survey of the fundamentals of classical and quantum physics to a brief review of basic semiconductor physics. Its purpose is to establish a common platform of language and symbols, and to make the entire treatment, as far as pos- ble, self-contained. Parts II and III, respectively, develop transport theory in bulk semiconductors in semiclassical and quantum frames. Part IV is devoted to semiconductor structures, including devices and mesoscopic coherent s- tems. Finally, Part V develops the basic theoretical tools of transport theory within the modern nonequilibrium Green-function formulation, starting from an introduction to second-quantization formalism.
Presenting the latest advances in artificial structures, this volume discusses in-depth the structure and electron transport mechanisms of quantum wells, superlattices, quantum wires, and quantum dots. It will serve as an invaluable reference and review for researchers and graduate students in solid-state physics, materials science, and electrical and electronic engineering.
This book offers, from both a theoretical and a computational perspective, an analysis of macroscopic mathematical models for description of charge transport in electronic devices, in particular in the presence of confining effects, such as in the double gate MOSFET. The models are derived from the semiclassical Boltzmann equation by means of the moment method and are closed by resorting to the maximum entropy principle. In the case of confinement, electrons are treated as waves in the confining direction by solving a one-dimensional Schrödinger equation obtaining subbands, while the longitudinal transport of subband electrons is described semiclassically. Limiting energy-transport and drift-diffusion models are also obtained by using suitable scaling procedures. An entire chapter in the book is dedicated to a promising new material like graphene. The models appear to be sound and sufficiently accurate for systematic use in computer-aided design simulators for complex electron devices. The book is addressed to applied mathematicians, physicists, and electronic engineers. It is written for graduate or PhD readers but the opening chapter contains a modicum of semiconductor physics, making it self-consistent and useful also for undergraduate students.
The composition of modern semiconductor heterostructures can be controlled precisely on the atomic scale to create low-dimensional systems. These systems have revolutionised semiconductor physics, and their impact on technology, particularly for semiconductor lasers and ultrafast transistors, is widespread and burgeoning. This book provides an introduction to the general principles that underlie low-dimensional semiconductors. As far as possible, simple physical explanations are used, with reference to examples from actual devices. The author shows how, beginning with fundamental results from quantum mechanics and solid-state physics, a formalism can be developed that describes the properties of low-dimensional semiconductor systems. Among numerous examples, two key systems are studied in detail: the two-dimensional electron gas, employed in field-effect transistors, and the quantum well, whose optical properties find application in lasers and other opto-electronic devices. The book includes many exercises and will be invaluable to undergraduate and first-year graduate physics or electrical engineering students taking courses in low-dimensional systems or heterostructure device physics.
This Advanced Study Institute on the Electronic Properties of Multilayers and Low Dimensional Semiconductor Structures focussed on several of the most active areas in modern semiconductor physics. These included resonant tunnelling and superlattice phenomena and the topics of ballistic transport, quantised conductance and anomalous magnetoresistance effects in laterally gated two-dimensional electron systems. Although the main emphasis was on fundamental physics, a series of supporting lectures described the underlying technology (Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Metallo-Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition, Electron Beam Lithography and other advanced processing technologies). Actual and potential applications of low dimensional structures in optoelectronic and high frequency devices were also discussed. The ASI took the form of a series of lectures of about fifty minutes' duration which were given by senior researchers from a wide range of countries. Most of the lectures are recorded in these Proceedings. The younger members of the Institute made the predominant contribution to the discussion sessions following each lecture and, in addition, provided most of the fifty-five papers that were presented in two lively poster sessions. The ASl emphasised the impressive way in which this research field has developed through the fruitful interaction of theory, experiment and semiconductor device technology. Many of the talks demonstrated both the effectiveness and limitations of semiclassical concepts in describing the quantum phenomena exhibited by electrons in low dimensional structures.
The discovery of the quantized and fractional Quantum Hall Effect phenomena is among the most important physics findings in the latter half of this century. The precise quantization of the electrical resistance involved in the quantized Hall effect phenomena has led to the new definition of the resistance standard and has metrologically affected all of science and technology. This resource consists of contributions from the top researchers in the field who present recent experimental and theoretical developments. Each chapter is self-contained and includes its own set of references guiding readers to original papers and further reading on the topic.
This volume on Advanced Electronic Technologies and Systems based on Low Dimensional Quantum Devices closes a three years series of NATO -AS!' s. The first year was focused on the fundamental properties and applications. The second year was devoted to Devices Based on Low-Dimensional Semiconductor Structures. The third year is covering Systems Based on Low-Dimensional Quantum Semiconductor Devices. The three volumes containing the lectures given at the three successive NATO -ASI's constitute a complete review on the latest advances in semiconductor Science and Technology from the methods of fabrication of the quantum structures through the fundamental physics am basic knowledge of properties and projection of performances to the technology of devices and systems. In the first volume: " Fabrication, Properties and Application of Low Dimensional Semiconductors" are described the practical ways in which quantum structures are produced, the present status of the technology, difficulties encountered, and advances to be expected. The basic theory of Quantum Wells, Double Quantum Wells and Superlattices is introduced and the fundamental aspects of their optical properties are presented. The effect of reduction of dimensionality on lattice dynamics of quantum structures is also discussed. In the second volume: " Devices Based on Low Dimensional Structures" the fundamentals of quantum structures and devices in the two major fields: Electro-Optical Devices and Pseudomorphic High Eectron Mobility Transistors are extensively discussed.
In its original form, this widely acclaimed primer on the fundamentals of quantized semiconductor structures was published as an introductory chapter in Raymond Dingle's edited volume (24) of Semiconductors and Semimetals. Having already been praised by reviewers for its excellent coverage, this material is now available in an updated and expanded "student edition." This work promises to become a standard reference in the field. It covers the basics of electronic states as well as the fundamentals of optical interactions and quantum transport in two-dimensional quantized systems. This revised student edition also includes entirely new sections discussing applications and one-dimensional and zero-dimensional systems. - Available for the first time in a new, expanded version - Provides a concise introduction to the fundamentals and fascinating applications of quantized semiconductor structures
