Nanoelectronic Device Structures at Terahertz Frequency

Abstract

Potential barriers of different types (rectangular, triangle, parabolic) with a dc-bias and a small ac-signal in the THz-frequency band are investigated in this paper. The height of the potential barrier is modulated by the high frequency signal. If electrons penetrate through the barrier they can emit or absorb usually one or even more energy quanta, thus the electron wave function behind the barrier is a superposition of different harmonics. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved to obtain the reflection and transmission amplitudes and the barrier transmittance corresponding to the harmonics. The electronic current density is calculated according to the Tsu-Esaki formula. If the harmonics of the electron current density are known, the complex admittance and other electrical parameters of the structure can be found.