An Introduction to Quantum Transport in Semiconductors

Throughout their college career, most engineering students have done problems and studies that are basically situated in the classical world. Some may have taken quantum mechanics as their chosen field of study. This book moves beyond the basics to highlight the full quantum mechanical nature of the transport of carriers through nanoelectronic structures. The book is unique in that addresses quantum transport only in the materials that are of interest to microelectronics—semiconductors, with their variable densities and effective masses. The author develops Green’s functions starting from equilibrium Green’s functions and going through modern time-dependent approaches to non-equilibrium Green’s functions, introduces relativistic bands for graphene and topological insulators and discusses the quantum transport changes that these bands induce, and discusses applications such as weak localization and phase breaking processes, resonant tunneling diodes, single-electron tunneling, and entanglement. Furthermore, he also explains modern ensemble Monte Carlo approaches to simulation of various approaches to quantum transport and the hydrodynamic approaches to quantum transport. All in all, the book describes all approaches to quantum transport in semiconductors, thus becoming an essential textbook for advanced graduate students in electrical engineering or physics.

Introduction Approaches to Quantum Transport Equilibrium Green’s Functions The Interaction Representation The Role of Temperature Quantum Devices The Density Matrix The Wigner Function Real-Time Green’s Functions I Real-Time Green’s Functions II Relativistic Quantum Transport

David K. Ferry is Regents’ Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU), USA. He is also graduate faculty in the Department of Physics and the Materials Science and Engineering program at ASU, as well as visiting professor at Chiba University, Japan. He came to ASU in 1983 following shorter stints at Texas Tech University, the Office of Naval Research, and Colorado State University. In the distant past, he received his doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin, and spent a postdoctoral period at the University of Vienna, Austria. He enjoys teaching (which he refers to as "warping young minds") and research. The latter is focused on semiconductors, particularly as they apply to nanotechnology and integrated circuits, as well as quantum effects in devices. In 1999, he received the Cledo Brunetti Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is a fellow of this group as well as the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics, UK. He has been a Tennessee Squire since 1971 and an admiral in the Texas Navy since 1973.