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

This volume contains invited and contributed papers of the Ninth International Conference on Hot Carriers in Semiconductors (HCIS-9), held July 3 I-August 4, 1995 in Chicago, Illinois. In all, the conference featured 15 invited oral presentations, 60 contributed oral presentations, and 105 poster presentations, and an international contingent of 170 scientists. As in recent conferences, the main themes of the conference were related to nonlinear transport in semiconductor heterojunctions and included Bloch oscillations, laser diode structures, and femtosecond spectroscopy. Interesting questions related to nonlinear transport, size quantization, and intersubband scattering were addressed that are relevant to the new quantum cascade laser. Many lectures were geared toward quantum wires and dots and toward nanostructures and mesoscopic systems in general. It is expected that such research will open new horizons to nonlinear transport studies. An attempt was made by the program committee to increase the number of presen tations related directly to devices. The richness of nonlocal hot electron effects that were discussed as a result, in our opinion, suggests that future conferences should further encourage reports on such device research. On behalf of the Program and International Advisory Committees, we thank the participants, who made the conference a successful and pleasant experience, and the support of the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, and the Beckman Institute of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We are also indebted to Mrs. Sara Starkey and Mrs.

Ultrafast spectroscopy of semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures is currently one of the most exciting areas of research in condensed-matter physics. Remarkable recent progress in the generation of tunable femtosecond pulses has allowed direct investigation of the most fundamental dynamical processes in semiconductors. This second edition presents the most striking recent advances in the techniques of ultrashort pulse generation and ultrafast spectroscopy; it discusses the physics of relaxation, tunneling and transport dynamics in semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures following excitation by femtosecond laser pulses.

Under certain conditions electrons in a semiconductor become much hotter than the surrounding crystal lattice. When this happens, Ohm's Law breaks down: current no longer increases linearly with voltage and may even decrease. Hot electrons have long been a challenging problem in condensed matter physics and remain important in semiconductor research. Recent advances in technology have led to semiconductors with submicron dimensions, where electrons can be confined to two (quantum well), one (quantum wire), or zero (quantum dot) dimensions. In these devices small voltages heat electrons rapidly, inducing complex nonlinear behavior; the study of hot electrons is central to their further development. This book is the only comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of hot electrons. Intended for both established researchers and graduate students, it gives a complete account of the historical development of the subject, together with current research and future trends, and covers the physics of hot electrons in bulk and low-dimensional device technology. The contributions are from leading scientists in the field and are grouped broadly into five categories: introduction and overview; hot electron-phonon interactions and ultra-fast phenomena in bulk and two-dimensional structures; hot electrons in quantum wires and dots; hot electron tunneling and transport in superlattices; and novel devices based on hot electron transport.

In the last ten years, the physics and technology of low dimensional structures has experienced a tremendous development. Quantum structures with vertical and lateral confinements are now routinely fabricated with feature sizes below 100 run. While quantization of the electron states in mesoscopic systems has been the subject of intense investigation, the effect of confinement on lattice vibrations and its influence on the electron-phonon interaction and energy dissipation in nanostructures received atten tion only recently. This NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Phonons in Sem iconductor Nanostructures was a forum for discussion on the latest developments in the physics of phonons and their impact on the electronic properties of low-dimensional structures. Our goal was to bring together specialists in lattice dynamics and nanos tructure physics to assess the increasing importance of phonon effects on the physical properties of one-(lD) and zero-dimensional (OD) structures. The Workshop addressed various issues related to phonon physics in III-V, II-VI and IV semiconductor nanostructures. The following topics were successively covered: Models for confined phonons in semiconductor nanostructures, latest experimental observations of confined phonons and electron-phonon interaction in two-dimensional systems, elementary excitations in nanostructures, phonons and optical processes in reduced dimensionality systems, phonon limited transport phenomena, hot electron effects in quasi - ID structures, carrier relaxation and phonon bottleneck in quantum dots.

Rapid developments in technology have led to enhanced electronic systems and applications. When utilized correctly, these can have significant impacts on communication and computer systems. Transport of Information-Carriers in Semiconductors and Nanodevices is an innovative source of academic material on transport modelling in semiconductor material and nanoscale devices. Including a range of perspectives on relevant topics such as charge carriers, semiclassical transport theory, and organic semiconductors, this is an ideal publication for engineers, researchers, academics, professionals, and practitioners interested in emerging developments on transport equations that govern information carriers.

Quantum Heterostructures provides a detailed description of the key physical and engineering principles of quantum semiconductor heterostructures. Blending important concepts from physics, materials science, and electrical engineering, it also explains clearly the behavior and operating features of modern microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. The authors begin by outlining the trends that have driven development in this field, most importantly the need for high-performance devices in computer, information, and communications technologies. They then describe the basics of quantum nanoelectronics, including various transport mechanisms. In the latter part of the book, they cover novel microelectronic devices, and optical devices based on quantum heterostructures. The book contains many homework problems and is suitable as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses in electrical engineering, physics, or materials science. It will also be of great interest to those involved in research or development in microelectronic or optoelectronic devices.

This volume provides valuable summaries on many aspects of advanced semiconductor heterostructures and highlights the great variety of semiconductor heterostructures that has emerged since their original conception. As exemplified by the chapters in this book, recent progress on advanced semiconductor heterostructures spans a truly remarkable range of scientific fields with an associated diversity of applications. Some of these applications will undoubtedly revolutionize critically important facets of modern technology. At the heart of these advances is the ability to design and control the properties of semiconductor devices on the nanoscale. As an example, the intersubband lasers discussed in this book have a broad range of previously unobtainable characteristics and associated applications as a result of the nanoscale dimensional control of the underlying semi-conductor heterostructures. As this book illustrates, an astounding variety of heterostructures can be fabricated with current technology; the potentially widespread use of layered quantum dots fabricated with nanoscale precision in biological applications opens up exciting advances in medicine. In addition, many more excellent examples of the remarkable impact being made through the use of semi-conductor heterostructures are given. The summaries in this volume provide timely insights into what we know now about selected areas of advanced semiconductor heterostructures and also provide foundations for further developments. Contents: Novel Heterostructure Devices: Electron-Phonon Wave Interactions in Inter-subband Laser Heterostructures (M Kisin et al.); Quantum Dot Infrared Detectors and Sources (P Bhattacharya et al.);Generation of Terahertz Emission Based on Intersubband Transitions (Q Hu); Midinfrared GaSb-Based Lasers with Type I Heterointerfaces (D V Donetsky et al.); Advances in Quantum Dot Research and Technology: The Path to Applications

The study of electrons and holes confined to two, one and even zero dimensions has uncovered a rich variety of new physics and applications. This book describes the interaction between these confined carriers and the optic and acoustic phonons within and around the confined regions. Phonons provide the principal channel of energy transfer between the carriers and their surroundings and also the main restriction to their room temperature mobility. But they have many other roles; they provide, for example, an essential feature of the operation of the quantum cascade laser. Since their momenta at relevant energies are well matched to those of electrons, they can also be used to probe electronic properties such as the confinement width of 2D electron gases and the dispersion curve of quasiparticles in the fractional quantum Hall effect. The book describes both the physics of the electron-phonon interaction in the different confined systems and the experimental and theoretical techniques that have been used in its investigation. The experimental methods include optical and transport techniques as well as techniques in which phonons are used as the experimental probe. The aim of the book is to provide an up to date review of the physics and its significance in device performance. It is also written to be explanatory and accessible to graduate students and others new to the field.

This handbook gives a complete and detailed survey of the field of semiconductor physics. It addresses every fundamental principle, the most important research topics and results, as well as conventional and emerging new areas of application. Additionally it provides all essential reference material on crystalline bulk, low-dimensional, and amorphous semiconductors, including valuable data on their optical, transport, and dynamic properties. This updated and extended second edition includes essential coverage of rapidly advancing areas in semiconductor physics, such as topological insulators, quantum optics, magnetic nanostructures and spintronic systems. Richly illustrated and authored by a duo of internationally acclaimed experts in solar energy and semiconductor physics, this handbook delivers in-depth treatment of the field, reflecting a combined experience spanning several decades as both researchers and educators. Offering a unique perspective on many issues, Semiconductor Physics is an invaluable reference for physicists, materials scientists and engineers throughout academia and industry.