The papers contained in the volume represent lectures delivered as a 1983 NATO ASI, held at Urbino, Italy. The lecture series was designed to identify the key submicron and ultrasubmicron device physics, transport, materials and contact issues. Nonequilibrium transport, quantum transport, interfacial and size constraints issues were also highlighted. The ASI was supported by NATO and the European Research Office. H. L. Grubin D. K. Ferry C. Jacoboni v CONTENTS MODELLING OF SUB-MICRON DEVICES.................. .......... 1 E. Constant BOLTZMANN TRANSPORT EQUATION... ... .........

The majority of the chapters in this volume represent a series of lectures. that were given at a workshop on quantum transport in ultrasmall electron devices, held at San Miniato, Italy, in March 1987. These have, of course, been extended and updated during the period that has elapsed since the workshop was held, and have been supplemented with additional chapters devoted to the tunneling process in semiconductor quantum-well structures. The aim of this work is to review and present the current understanding in nonequilibrium quantum transport appropriate to semiconductors. Gen erally, the...

The technological means now exists for approaching the fundamentallimiting scales of solid state electronics in which a single carrier can, in principle, represent a single bit in an information flow. In this light, the prospect of chemically, or biologically, engineered molccular-scale structures which might support information processing functions has enticed workers for many years. The one common factor in all suggested molecular switches, ranging from the experimentally feasible proton-tunneling structure, to natural systems such as the micro-tubule, is that each proposed structure deals...

This is an introductory text on electron transport in semiconductor materials and is written for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. The book provides a thorough treatment of modern approaches to the transport properties of semiconductors and their calculation. It also introduces those aspects of solid-state physics that distinguish semiconductors from other materials and outlines the principles which are vitally important for understanding transport in them. Topics covered in the book include: the Boltzman equation; near-equilibrium transport, and non-equilibrium high-field...

The operation of semiconductor devices depends upon the use of electrical potential barriers (such as gate depletion) in controlling the carrier densities (electrons and holes) and their transport. Although a successful device design is quite complicated and involves many aspects, the device engineering is mostly to devise a "best" device design by defIning optimal device structures and manipulating impurity profIles to obtain optimal control of the carrier flow through the device. This becomes increasingly diffIcult as the device scale becomes smaller and smaller. Since the introduction of...

The advent of semiconductor structures whose characteristic dimensions are smaller than the mean free path of carriers has led to the development of novel devices, and advances in theoretical understanding of mesoscopic systems or nanostructures. This book has been thoroughly revised and provides a much-needed update on the very latest experimental research into mesoscopic devices and develops a detailed theoretical framework for understanding their behavior. Beginning with the key observable phenomena in nanostructures, the authors describe quantum confined systems, transmission in...

A compendium of otherwise scattered information on the physics involved in the construction and operation of semiconductor devices at the submicron level. Addressed to people who make such devices, and assumes a solid understanding of solid state physics and electronics, and at least a familiarity w

The purposes of this book are many. First, we must point out that it is not a device book, as a proper treatment of the range of important devices would require a much larger volume even without treating the important physics for submicron devices. Rather, the book is written principally to pull together and present in a single place, and in a (hopefully) uniform treatment, much of the understanding on relevant physics for submicron devices. Indeed, the understand- ing that we are trying to convey through this work has existed in the literature for quite some time, but has not been brought to...

The area of high field transport in semiconductors has been of interest since the early studies of dielectric breakdown in various materials. It really emerged as a sub-discipline of semiconductor physics in the early 1960's, following the discovery of substantial deviations from Ohm's law at high electric fields. Since that time, it has become a major area of importance in solid state electronics as semiconductor devices have operated at higher frequencies and higher powers. It has become apparent since the Modena Conference on Hot Electrons in 1973, that the area of hot electrons has ex...