4 research outputs found
Lifetime of metastable states in resonant tunneling structures
We investigate the transport of electrons through a double-barrier
resonant-tunneling structure in the regime where the current-voltage
characteristics exhibit bistability. In this regime one of the states is
metastable, and the system eventually switches from it to the stable state. We
show that the mean switching time grows exponentially as the voltage across the
device is tuned from the its boundary value into the bistable region. In
samples of small area we find that the logarithm of the lifetime is
proportional to the voltage (measured from its boundary value) to the 3/2
power, while in larger samples the logarithm of the lifetime is linearly
proportional to the voltage.Comment: REVTeX 4, 5 pages, 3 EPS-figure
Escape time model for the current self-oscillation frequencies. in weakly coupled semiconductor superlattices
Transient Experiments on CO<sub>2</sub> Formation by the CO Oxidation Reaction over Oxygen-Rich Ru(0001) Surfaces
Reactive scattering of CO molecules at oxygen-rich Ru(0001) surfaces with concentrations equivalent up to 16 monolayers and sample temperatures between 300 and 700 K led to the identification of two distinct reaction channels in the transient CO2 rate. The first reaction channel is related to the recombination of CO molecules with oxygen atoms already located on the surface. The second reaction channel, which can be observed at sample temperatures above about 400 K, is controlled by the diffusion of oxygen atoms from the near-surface region toward the surface