7,650 research outputs found
Lateral current density fronts in asymmetric double-barrier resonant-tunneling structures
We present a theoretical analysis and numerical simulations of lateral
current density fronts in bistable resonant-tunneling diodes with Z-shaped
current-voltage characteristics. The bistability is due to the charge
accumulation in the quantum well of the double-barrier structure. We focus on
asymmetric structures in the regime of sequential incoherent tunneling and
study the dependence of the bistability range, the front velocity and the front
width on the structure parameters. We propose a sectional design of a structure
that is suitable for experimental observation of front propagation and discuss
potential problems of such measurements in view of our theoretical findings. We
point out the possibility to use sectional resonant-tunneling structures as
controllable three-terminal switches.Comment: to appear in J.Appl.Phy
Theory of charge fluctuations and domain relocation times in semiconductor superlattices
Shot noise affects differently the nonlinear electron transport in
semiconductor superlattices depending on the strength of the coupling among the
superlattice quantum wells. Strongly coupled superlattices can be described by
a miniband Boltzmann-Langevin equation from which a stochastic drift-diffusion
equation is derived by means of a consistent Chapman-Enskog method. Similarly,
shot noise in weakly coupled, highly doped semiconductor superlattices is
described by a stochastic discrete drift-diffusion model. The current-voltage
characteristics of the corresponding deterministic model consist of a number of
stable branches corresponding to electric field profiles displaying two domains
separated by a domain wall. If the initial state corresponds to a voltage on
the middle of a stable branch and is suddenly switched to a final voltage
corresponding to the next branch, the domains relocate after a certain delay
time, called relocation time. The possible scalings of this mean relocation
time are discussed using bifurcation theory and the classical results for
escape of a Brownian particle from a potential well.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure
Nonlinear stochastic discrete drift-diffusion theory of charge fluctuations and domain relocation times in semiconductor superlattices
A stochastic discrete drift-diffusion model is proposed to account for the
effects of shot noise in weakly coupled, highly doped semiconductor
superlattices. Their current-voltage characteristics consist of a number stable
multistable branches corresponding to electric field profiles displaying two
domains separated by a domain wall. If the initial state corresponds to a
voltage on the middle of a stable branch and a sudden voltage is switched so
that the final voltage corresponds to the next branch, the domains relocate
after a certain delay time. Shot noise causes the distribution of delay times
to change from a Gaussian to a first passage time distribution as the final
voltage approaches that of the end of the first current branch. These results
agree qualitatively with experiments by Rogozia {\it et al} (Phys. Rev. B {\bf
64}, 041308(R) (2001)).Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, 2 column forma
Dynamics of Electric Field Domains and Oscillations of the Photocurrent in a Simple Superlattice Model
A discrete model is introduced to account for the time-periodic oscillations
of the photocurrent in a superlattice observed by Kwok et al, in an undoped 40
period AlAs/GaAs superlattice. Basic ingredients are an effective negative
differential resistance due to the sequential resonant tunneling of the
photoexcited carriers through the potential barriers, and a rate equation for
the holes that incorporates photogeneration and recombination. The
photoexciting laser acts as a damping factor ending the oscillations when its
power is large enough. The model explains: (i) the known oscillatory static I-V
characteristic curve through the formation of a domain wall connecting high and
low electric field domains, and (ii) the photocurrent and photoluminescence
time-dependent oscillations after the domain wall is formed. In our model, they
arise from the combined motion of the wall and the shift of the values of the
electric field at the domains. Up to a certain value of the photoexcitation,
the non-uniform field profile with two domains turns out to be metastable:
after the photocurrent oscillations have ceased, the field profile slowly
relaxes toward the uniform stationary solution (which is reached on a much
longer time scale). Multiple stability of stationary states and hysteresis are
also found. An interpretation of the oscillations in the photoluminescence
spectrum is also given.Comment: 34 pages, REVTeX 3.0, 10 figures upon request, MA/UC3M/07/9
Solution Map Analysis of a Multiscale Drift-Diffusion Model for Organic Solar Cells
In this article we address the theoretical study of a multiscale
drift-diffusion (DD) model for the description of photoconversion mechanisms in
organic solar cells. The multiscale nature of the formulation is based on the
co-presence of light absorption, conversion and diffusion phenomena that occur
in the three-dimensional material bulk, of charge photoconversion phenomena
that occur at the two-dimensional material interface separating acceptor and
donor material phases, and of charge separation and subsequent charge transport
in each three-dimensional material phase to device terminals that are driven by
drift and diffusion electrical forces. The model accounts for the nonlinear
interaction among four species: excitons, polarons, electrons and holes, and
allows to quantitatively predict the electrical current collected at the device
contacts of the cell. Existence and uniqueness of weak solutions of the DD
system, as well as nonnegativity of all species concentrations, are proved in
the stationary regime via a solution map that is a variant of the Gummel
iteration commonly used in the treatment of the DD model for inorganic
semiconductors. The results are established upon assuming suitable restrictions
on the data and some regularity property on the mixed boundary value problem
for the Poisson equation. The theoretical conclusions are numerically validated
on the simulation of three-dimensional problems characterized by realistic
values of the physical parameters
Stationary states and phase diagram for a model of the Gunn effect under realistic boundary conditions
A general formulation of boundary conditions for semiconductor-metal contacts
follows from a phenomenological procedure sketched here. The resulting boundary
conditions, which incorporate only physically well-defined parameters, are used
to study the classical unipolar drift-diffusion model for the Gunn effect. The
analysis of its stationary solutions reveals the presence of bistability and
hysteresis for a certain range of contact parameters. Several types of Gunn
effect are predicted to occur in the model, when no stable stationary solution
exists, depending on the value of the parameters of the injecting contact
appearing in the boundary condition. In this way, the critical role played by
contacts in the Gunn effect is clearly stablished.Comment: 10 pages, 6 Post-Script figure
Photo-excited semiconductor superlattices as constrained excitable media: Motion of dipole domains and current self-oscillations
A model for charge transport in undoped, photo-excited semiconductor
superlattices, which includes the dependence of the electron-hole recombination
on the electric field and on the photo-excitation intensity through the
field-dependent recombination coefficient, is proposed and analyzed. Under dc
voltage bias and high photo-excitation intensities, there appear self-sustained
oscillations of the current due to a repeated homogeneous nucleation of a
number of charge dipole waves inside the superlattice. In contrast to the case
of a constant recombination coefficient, nucleated dipole waves can split for a
field-dependent recombination coefficient in two oppositely moving dipoles. The
key for understanding these unusual properties is that these superlattices have
a unique static electric-field domain. At the same time, their dynamical
behavior is akin to the one of an extended excitable system: an appropriate
finite disturbance of the unique stable fixed point may cause a large excursion
in phase space before returning to the stable state and trigger pulses and wave
trains. The voltage bias constraint causes new waves to be nucleated when old
ones reach the contact.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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