Computational issues in the simulation of semiconductor quantum wires Original Research Article

This paper introduces the main numerical issues related to the simulation of electronic states in highly confined semiconductor systems. A typical example is the semiconductor quantum wire, where double size quantization confines carriers on the cross-section of a conduction channel. We introduce details of the numerical approach for the solution of the coupled Poisson/Schrödinger equation system that describe the quantum system and outline an original iteration approach that uses a predictor–corrector procedure for convergence of the outer iteration. The numerical approach is illustrated by a number of examples for quantum wire structures based on the GaAs/AlGaAs and the Si/SiO2 material systems. The simulations for Si-based structures are interesting to understand the limit of scalability of traditional integrated devices in the plane transverse to the conduction channel. It is also shown that a quasi–monomode Si quantum wire is in principle possible at room temperature.