We present a novel approach for computing the surface roughness-limited thermal conductivity of silicon nanowires with diameter D<100 nm. A frequency-dependent phonon scattering rate is computed from perturbation theory and related to a description of the surface through the root-mean-square roughness height Delta and autocovariance length L. Using a full phonon dispersion relation, we find a quadratic dependence of thermal conductivity on diameter and roughness as (D/Delta)(2). Computed results show excellent agreement with experimental data for a wide diameter and temperature range (25-350 K), and successfully predict the extraordinarily low thermal conductivity of 2 W m(-1) K-1 at room temperature in rough-etched 50 nm silicon nanowires.

Articles you may be interested indc modulation in field-effect transistors operating under microwave irradiation for quantum readout J. Appl. Phys. 98, 044505 (2005); 10.1063/1.2007852 Microwave operation and modulation of a transistor laser Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 131114 (2005); 10.1063/1.1889243Effect of signal modulated optical illumination on the Schrödinger wave function in a quantum well in a modulation doped field effect transistor and related device characteristics Resonant tunneling field-effect transistor based on wave function shape modulation in quantum wiresWe present a theoretical study of semiconductor T -structures which may exhibit transistor action based on quantum interference. The electron transmission through a semiconductor quantum wire can be controlled by an external gate voltage that modifies the penetration of the electron wavefunction in a lateral stub, affecting in this way its interference pattern. The structures are modeled as ideal two-dimensional electron waveguides and a tight-binding Green's function technique is used to compute the electron transmission and reflecti.on coefficients. The calculations show that relatively small changes in the stub length can induce strong variations in the electron transmission across the structure. Operation in the fundamental transverse mode appears to be important for applications. We also show that a bound state of purely geometrical origin nucleates at the intersection between waveguide and stub. The performance of the device can be improved by inserting additional stubs of slightly different lengths. Taking into account the applicable scaling rules, we give estimates of the experimental parameters that optimize the transmission characteristics and speed of operation ofthe proposed transistor. 3892

A fast and robust iterative method for obtaining self-consistent solutions to the coupled system of Schrödinger’s and Poisson’s equations is presented. Using quantum mechanical perturbation theory, a simple expression describing the dependence of the quantum electron density on the electrostatic potential is derived. This expression is then used to implement an iteration scheme, based on a predictor-corrector type approach, for the solution of the coupled system of differential equations. We find that this iteration approach simplifies the software implementation of the nonlinear problem, and provides excellent convergence speed and stability. We demonstrate the approach by presenting an example for the calculation of the two-dimensional bound electron states within the cross section of a GaAs-AlGaAs based quantum wire. For this example, the convergence is six times faster by applying our predictor-corrector approach compared to a corresponding underrelaxation algorithm.

A theoretical study of quantum interference phenomena in a T-shaped semiconductor structure is presented. Transmission and reflection coefficients are computed by use of a tight-binding Green function technique. As expected, the results resemble the well-known solutions for the electromagnetic field in waveguides with the main difference that the penetration of the wave function of the electrons can be controlled by external voltages. We conclude that transistor action based on quantum interference should be observable in such structures, and we present general results for the functional dependences of the transmission coefficient which corresponds to a transconductance.

The electronic structure and dielectric screening of finite-length armchair carbon nanotubes are studied in view of their technical applications. For this purpose, a self-consistent tight-binding method, which captures the periodic oscillation pattern of the finite band gap as a function of tube length, is applied. We find the parallel screening constant E | to grow nearly linearly with the length L and to show little dependence on the band gap. In contrast, the perpendicular screening constant E ⊥ is strongly related to the band gap and converges for L > 10R (radius) to its bulk value. Our description is employed to study the wall polarization in a short (6,6) nanotube filled with six water molecules, a situation that arises with technical uses of carbon nanotubes as channels.

The electronic properties of carbon nanotubes (NTs) in a uniform transverse field are investigated within a single orbital tight-binding (TB) model. For doped nanotubes, the dielectric function is found to depend not only on symmetry of the tube, but also on radius and Fermi level position. Bandgap opening/closing is predicted for zigzag tubes, while it is found that armchair tubes always remain metallic, which is explained by the symmetry in their configuration. The bandstructures for both types are considerably modified when the field strength is large enough to mix neighboring subbands.

We model and compare the thermal conductivity of rough semiconductor nanowires (NWs) of Si, Ge, and GaAs for thermoelectric devices. On the basis of full phonon dispersion relations, the effect of NW surface roughness on thermal conductivity is derived from perturbation theory and appears as an efficient way to scatter phonons in Si, Ge, and GaAs NWs with diameter D < 200 nm. For small diameters and large root-mean-square roughness Delta, thermal conductivity is limited by surface asperities and varies quadratically as (D/Delta)(2). At room temperature, our model previously agreed with experimental observations of thermal conductivity down to 2 W m(-1) K(-1) in rough 56 nm Si NWs with Delta = 3 nm. In comparison to Si, we predict here remarkably low thermal conductivity in Ge and GaAs NWs of 0.1 and 0.4 W m(-1) K(-1), respectively, at similar roughness and diameter.

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