Electron escape time from single quantum wells

Author

Lefebvre, Kevin R. ; Anwar, A.F.M.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Syst. Eng., Connecticut Univ., Storrs, CT, USA

Volume

33

Issue

2

fYear

1997

fDate

2/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

187

Lastpage

191

Abstract

A theoretical model for electrons escaping a quantum well under the influence of an applied electric field is developed. Both the thermionic emission and tunneling components of the currents are calculated, taking into account the proper partitioning between the two currents. The group velocity for a nonuniform electron distribution within the quantum well, which is a function of position and energy, and the continuous energy dependence of the quantum well density of states is considered. A comparison between this model and previously reported experimental results are made which demonstrates excellent agreement

Keywords

electronic density of states; semiconductor device models; semiconductor quantum wells; thermionic electron emission; tunnelling; applied electric field; continuous energy dependence; electron escape time; energy; group velocity; nonuniform electron distribution; partitioning; position; quantum well density of states; single quantum wells; theoretical model; thermionic emission; tunneling components; Carrier confinement; Charge carrier processes; Dark current; Electron emission; Infrared detectors; Quantum mechanics; Quantum well devices; Semiconductor devices; Thermionic emission; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.552258

Filename

552258