Mesoscopic Electronics in Solid State Nanostructures

This text treats electronic transport in the regime where conventional textbook models are no longer applicable, including the effect of electronic phase coherence, energy quantization and single-electron charging. The book also provides an overview of semiconductor processing technologies and experimental techniques. With a number of examples and problems with solutions, this is an ideal introduction for students and beginning researchers in the field. "This book is a useful tool also for the experienced researcher to get a summary about recent developments in solid state nanostructures. I applaud the author for a marvelous contribution to the scientific community of mesoscopic electronics." - Prof. K. Ensslin, Solid State Physics Laboratory, ETH Zurich.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction. 1.1 Preliminary remarks. 1.2 Mesoscopic transport. 1.2.1 Ballistic transport. 1.2.2 The quantum Hall effect and Shubnikov -- de Haas oscillations. 1.2.3 Size quantization. 1.2.4 Phase coherence. 1.2.5 Single electron tunnelling and quantum dots. 1.2.6 Superlattices. 1.2.7 Samples and experimental techniques. 2 An Update of Solid State Physics. 2.1 Crystal structures. 2.2 Electronic energy bands. 2.3 Occupation of energy bands. 2.3.1 The electronic density of states. 2.3.2 Occupation probability and chemical potential. 2.3.3 Intrinsic carrier concentration. 2.4 Envelope wave functions. 2.5 Doping. 2.6 Diffusive transport and the Boltzmann equation. 2.6.1 The Boltzmann equation. 2.6.2 The conductance predicted by the simplified Boltzmann equation. 2.6.3 The magneto--resistivity tensor. 2.7 Scattering mechanisms. 2.8 Screening. 3 Surfaces, Interfaces, and Layered Devices. 3.1 Electronic surface states. 3.1.1 Surface states in one dimension. 3.1.2 Surfaces of 3--dimensional crystals. 3.1.3 Band bending and Fermi level pinning. 3.2 Semiconductor--metal interfaces. 3.2.1 Band alignment and Schottky barriers. 3.2.2 Ohmic contacts. 3.3 Semiconductor heterointerfaces. 3.4 Field effect transistors and quantum wells. 3.4.1 The silicon metal--oxide--semiconductor FET (Si--MOSFET). 3.4.2 The Ga[Al]As high electron mobility transistor (GaAs--HEMT). 3.4.3 Other types of layered devices. 3.4.4 Quantum confined carriers in comparison to bulk carriers. 4 Experimental Techniques. 4.1 Sample fabrication. 4.1.1 Single crystal growth. 4.1.2 Growth of layered structures. 4.1.3 Lateral patterning. 4.1.4 Metallization. 4.1.5 Bonding. 4.2 Elements of cryogenics. 4.2.1 Properties of liquid helium. 4.2.2 Helium cryostats. 4.3 Electronic measurements on nanostructures. 4.3.1 Sample holders. 4.3.2 Application and detection of electronic signals. 5 Important Quantities in Mesoscopic Transport. 6 Magnetotransport Properties of Quantum Films. 6.1 Landau quantization. 6.1.1 2DEGs in perpendicular magnetic fields. 6.1.2 The chemical potential in strong magnetic fields. 6.2 The quantum Hall effect. 6.2.1 Phenomenology. 6.2.2 Origin of the integer quantum Hall effect. 6.2.3 The quantum Hall effect and three dimensions. 6.3 Elementary analysis of Shubnikov--de Haas oscillations. 6.4 Some examples of magnetotransport experiments. 6.4.1 Quasi--two--dimensional electron gases. 6.4.2 Mapping of the probability density. 6.4.3 Displacement of the quantum Hall plateaux. 6.5 Parallel magnetic fields. 7 QuantumWires and Quantum Point Contacts. 7.1 Diffusive quantum wires. 7.1.1 Basic properties. 7.1.2 Boundary scattering. 7.2 Ballistic quantum wires. 7.2.1 Phenomenology. 7.2.2 Conductance quantization in QPCs. 7.2.3 Magnetic field effects. 7.2.4 The "0.7 structure". 7.2.5 Four--probe measurements on ballistic quantum wires. 7.3 The Landauer--B uttiker formalism. 7.3.1 Edge states. 7.3.2 Edge channels. 7.4 Further examples of quantum wires. 7.4.1 Conductance quantization in conventional metals. 7.4.2 Carbon nanotubes. 7.5 Quantum point contact circuits. 7.5.1 Non--ohmic behavior of collinear QPCs. 7.5.2 QPCs in parallel. 7.6 Concluding remarks. 8. Electronic Phase Coherence. 8.1 The Aharonov--Bohm effect in mesoscopic conductors. 8.2 Weak localization. 8.3 Universal conductance fluctuations. 8.4 Phase coherence in ballistic 2DEGs. 8.5 Resonant tunnelling and S -- matrices. 9 Singe Electron Tunnelling. 9.1 The principle of Coulomb blockade. 9.2 Basic single electron tunnelling circuits. 9.2.1 Coulomb blockade at the double barrier. 9.2.2 Current--voltage characteristics: the Coulomb staircase. 9.2.3 The SET transistor. 9.3 SET circuits with many islands; the single electron pump. 10 Quantum Dots. 10.1 Phenomenology of quantum dots. 10.2 The constant interaction model. 10.3 Beyond the constant interaction model. 10.4 Shape of conductance resonances and current--voltage characteristics. 10.5 Other types of quantum dots. 11 Mesoscopic Superlattices. 11.1 One--dimensional superlattices. 11.2 Two--dimensional superlattices. A SI and cgs Units. Appendices. B Correlation and Convolution. B.1 Fourier transformation. B.2 Convolutions. B.3 Correlation functions. C Capacitance Matrix and Electrostatic Energy. D The Transfer Hamiltonian. E Solutions to Selected Exercises. References. Index.