Semiconductor Nanostructures

This introduction to the physics of semiconductor nanostructures and their transport properties emphasizes five fundamental transport phenomena: quantized conductance, tunnelling transport, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, the quantum Hall effect and the Coulomb blockade effect.

Reducing the size of a coherently grown semiconductor cluster in all three directions of space to a value below the de Broglie wavelength of a charge carrier leads to complete quantization of the energy levels, density of states, etc. Such “quantum dots” are more similar to giant atoms in a dielectric cage than to classical solids or semiconductors showing a dispersion of energy as a function of wavevector. Their electronic and optical properties depend strongly on their size and shape, i.e. on their geometry. By designing the geometry by controlling the growth of QDs, absolutely novel possibilities for material design leading to novel devices are opened. This multiauthor book written by world-wide recognized leaders of their particular fields and edited by the recipient of the Max-Born Award and Medal 2006 Professor Dieter Bimberg reports on the state of the art of the growing of quantum dots, the theory of self-organised growth, the theory of electronic and excitonic states, optical properties and transport in a variety of materials. It covers the subject from the early work beginning of the 1990s up to 2006. The topics addressed in the book are the focus of research in all leading semiconductor and optoelectronic device laboratories of the world.

Annotation Tiny structures measurable on the nanometer scale (one-billionth of a meter) are known as nanostructures, and nanotechnology is the emerging application of these nanostructures into useful nanoscale devices. As we enter the 21st century, more and more professional are using nanotechnology to create semiconductors for a variety of applications, including communications, information technology, medical, and transportation devices. Written by today's best researchers of semiconductor nanostructures, this cutting-edge resource provides a snapshot of this exciting and fast-changing field. The book covers the latest advances in nanotechnology and discusses the applications of nanostructures to optoelectronics, photonics, and electronics.

Advances in Semiconductor Nanostructures: Growth, Characterization, Properties and Applications focuses on the physical aspects of semiconductor nanostructures, including growth and processing of semiconductor nanostructures by molecular-beam epitaxy, ion-beam implantation/synthesis, pulsed laser action on all types of III–V, IV, and II–VI semiconductors, nanofabrication by bottom-up and top-down approaches, real-time observations using in situ UHV-REM and high-resolution TEM of atomic structure of quantum well, nanowires, quantum dots, and heterostructures and their electrical, optical, magnetic, and spin phenomena. The very comprehensive nature of the book makes it an indispensable source of information for researchers, scientists, and post-graduate students in the field of semiconductor physics, condensed matter physics, and physics of nanostructures, helping them in their daily research. Presents a comprehensive reference on the novel physical phenomena and properties of semiconductor nanostructures Covers recent developments in the field from all over the world Provides an International approach, as chapters are based on results obtained in collaboration with research groups from Russia, Germany, France, England, Japan, Holland, USA, Belgium, China, Israel, Brazil, and former Soviet Union countries

This book presents the fabrication of optoelectronic nanodevices. The structures considered are nanowires, nanorods, hybrid semiconductor nanostructures, wide bandgap nanostructures for visible light emitters and graphene. The device applications of these structures are broadly explained. The book deals also with the characterization of semiconductor nanostructures. It appeals to researchers and graduate students.

Semiconductor nanostructures are ideal systems to tailor the physical properties via quantum effects, utilizing special growth techniques, self-assembling, wet chemical processes or lithographic tools in combination with tuneable external electric and magnetic fields. Such systems are called "Quantum Materials".The electronic, photonic, and phononic properties of these systems are governed by size quantization and discrete energy levels. The charging is controlled by the Coulomb blockade. The spin can be manipulated by the geometrical structure, external gates and by integrating hybrid ferromagnetic emitters.This book reviews sophisticated preparation methods for quantum materials based on III-V and II-VI semiconductors and a wide variety of experimental techniques for the investigation of these interesting systems. It highlights selected experiments and theoretical concepts and gives such a state-of-the-art overview about the wide field of physics and chemistry that can be studied in these systems.

Nonequilibrium hot charge carriers play a crucial role in the physics and technology of semiconductor nanostructure devices. This book, one of the first on the topic, discusses fundamental aspects of hot carriers in quasi-two-dimensional systems and the impact of these carriers on semiconductor devices. The work will provide scientists and device engineers with an authoritative review of the most exciting recent developments in this rapidly moving field. It should be read by all those who wish to learn the fundamentals of contemporary ultra-small, ultra-fast semiconductor devices. Topics covered include Reduced dimensionality and quantum wells Carrier-phonon interactions and hot phonons Femtosecond optical studies of hot carrier Ballistic transport Submicron and resonant tunneling devices

Recent advances in the fabrication of semiconductors have created almost un limited possibilities to design structures on a nanometre scale with extraordinary electronic and optoelectronic properties. The theoretical understanding of elec trical transport in such nanostructures is of utmost importance for future device applications. This represents a challenging issue of today's basic research since it requires advanced theoretical techniques to cope with the quantum limit of charge transport, ultrafast carrier dynamics and strongly nonlinear high-field ef fects. This book, which appears in the electronic materials series, presents an over view of the theoretical background and recent developments in the theory of electrical transport in semiconductor nanostructures. It contains 11 chapters which are written by experts in their fields. Starting with a tutorial introduction to the subject in Chapter 1, it proceeds to present different approaches to transport theory. The semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation is in the centre of the next three chapters. Hydrodynamic moment equations (Chapter 2), Monte Carlo techniques (Chapter 3) and the cellular au tomaton approach (Chapter 4) are introduced and illustrated with applications to nanometre structures and device simulation. A full quantum-transport theory covering the Kubo formalism and nonequilibrium Green's functions (Chapter 5) as well as the density matrix theory (Chapter 6) is then presented.