Nanomaterials Nptel

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices
Quantum Wells, Quantum Wires, Quantum

Dots, Quantum Limit of Conductance,
Quantum Capacitance & Quantum HALL
Effect
R. John Bosco Balaguru

Professor
School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
SASTRA University
B. G. Jeyaprakash
Assistant Professor
School of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
SASTRA University
Joint Initiative of IITs and IISc Funded by MHRD
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Table of contents
1
INTRODUCTION3
1.1 WHAT ARE LOW-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES?............................................................3
1.2 CLASSIFICATION OF LOW-DIMENSIONAL MATERIALS...3
1.3 WHY WE NEED QUANTUM MECHANICS?........................................................................4
INTRODUCTION ABOUT QUANTUM WELLS,

QUANTUM WIRES AND QUANTUM DOTS.6
2.1 QUANTUM WIRE...11
2.1.1 How to prepare Quantum Wire?.....................................................................................11
2.2QUANTUM DOT....12
2.3 TWO-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES: QUANTUM WELLS....13
2.3.1 Zero-Point Energy...15
ONE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES:
QUANTUM WIRES AND NANOWIRES...15
ZERO-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES:
QUANTUM DOTS AND NANODOTS18
QUANTUM CONDUCTANCE....19
QUANTUM CAPACITNECE..23
6.1 QUANTUM CONDUCTANCE..23
6.2 EFFECT OF QUANTUM CONDUCTANCE....24
QUANTUM HALLEFFECT....24
7.1 INTEGER QUANTUM HALL EFFECT LANDAU LEVELS....25
7.2 QUANTUM HALL EFFECT...27
REFERENCES...29
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 What are Low-Dimensional Structures?
When one or more of the dimensions of a solid are reduced
ciently,
suf its
physicochemical characteristics notably depart from those of the bulk solid. With
reduction in size, novel electrical, mechanical, chemical, magnetic, and optical properties
can be introduced. The resulting structure is then called a low-dimensional structure (or
l
to a lo w system). The conn emen t o f p articles, u su ally electro n s o r h o es,
dimensional structure leads to a dramatic change in their behaviour and to the
manifestation of size effects that usually fall into the category of quantum-size
effects.
The low dimensional materials exhibit new physicochemical properties not shown
by the corresponding large-scale structures of the same composition. Nanostructures
constitute a bridge between molecules and bulk materials. Suitable control of the
properties and responses of nanostructures can lead to new devices and technologies.
1.2 Classification of Low-dimensional Materials

Low-dimensional structures are usually classi
ed according to the number of
reduced dimensions they have. More precisely, the dimensionality refers to the number
of degrees of freedom in the particle momentum. Accordingly, depending on the
dimensionality, the following classication is made:
Three-dimensional (3D) structure or bulk structure: No quantization of the particle
motion occurs, i.e., the particle is free.
Two-dimensional (2D) structure or quantum well: Quantization of the particle motion
occurs in one direction, while the particle is free to move in the other two directions.
One-dimensional (1D) structure or quantum wire: Quantization occurs in two
directions, leading to free movement along only one direction.
Zero-dimensional (0D) structure or quantum dot (sometimes called quantum
box): Quantization occurs in all three directions.
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Table 1. Nanostructures and their typical nanoscale dimensions
Tradition has determined that reduced-dimensionality structures are labeled by the

remaining degrees of freedom in the particle motion, rather than by the number of
directions with connement.
1.3 Why we need Quantum Mechanics?

As a spatial dimension approaches the atomic scale, a transition occurs from the
classical laws to the quantum-mechanical laws of physics. Phenomena that occur on the
atomic or subatomic scale cannot be explained outside the framework of quantummechanical laws.
For example, the existence and properties of atoms, the chemical bond, and the
motion of an electron in a crystal cannot be understood in terms of classical laws.
Moreover, many phenomena exhibited on a macroscopic scale reveal underlying
quantum phenomena. It is in this reductionist sense that quantum mechanics is
proclaimed as the basis of our present understanding of all natural phenomena studied
and exploited in chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, engineering, etc. Physical
behaviour at the nanoscale is accurately predicted by quantum mechanics, as
represented by the Schrdinger equation, which therefore provides a quantitative
understanding of the properties of low-dimensional structures.
In quantum mechanics, the trajectory of a moving particle loses its meaning when
the distance over which potential energy varies is on the order of the de Broglie
wavelength:
2me
(1)
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where is the reduced Planck constant, m is the mass of the particle, and E is its energy.
In other words, a basic characteristic of all matter at the nanoscale is the manifestation of
the waveparticle dualitya fundamental quantum-mechanical principle that states that
all matter (electrons, nuclei, photons, etc.) behaves as both waves and particles.. The
quantum effects of connement become signicant when at least one of the dimensions
of a structure is comparable in length to the deBroglie wavelength. If at least one
dimension of a solid is comparable to the de Broglie wavelength of the particle, a
quantum-mechanical treatment of particle motion becomes necessary. In the
Schrdinger description of quantum mechanics, an elementary particlee.g., an electron, a
hole and a photonor even a physical system such as an atom is described by a wave
function (r t), which depends on the variables describing the degrees of freedom of the
particle (system). Thesquare of the wave function is interpreted as the probability of
nding a particle at spatial location = ( x, y, z ) and time t.
The wave function contains all of the information that may be obtained about a
physical entity and is suf
cient to describe a particle or syste m of particles. In other
words, if the wave function of, for example, an ensemble of electrons in a device, is
known, it is possible in principlethough limited by computational abilitiesto
calculate all of the macroscopic parameters that dene the electr onic performance of that
device.
The wave function of an uncharged particle with no spin satises the Schrdinger
equation
(2)
2
where, =
+ 2 + 2 is the Laplacian operator, i= 1 , and V(r t) is the

2
x
y
z
2
spatiotemporally varying potential inuencing the particles motion. The particles mass
m in the equation has to be carefully handled. For a particle (electron or hole) in a solid,
this mass is its effective mass m, which is usually less than the mass of an isolated
electron. In the above equation the action of Hamiltonian operator
on the wave function yields the total energy of the
particle. The rst part of H (r , t ) (r , t ) is the kinetic energy, and the second part is the
potential energy. For many real systems, the potential does not depend on time, ie
V(r,t)=V(r). Then, the dependences on time and spatial coordinates of ( z ) (r t) are
separated as
(3)
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Where (r ) is a complex-valued function of space only, and E is the energy of the

system. Using this representation of the wave function in the Schrdinger equation, the
time harmonic Shcrodinger equation is obtained and can be written as,
(4)
Analytical solutions of the time-harmonic Schrdinger equation can be obtained for a
variety of relatively simple conditions. These solutions provide an insight into the
nature of quantum phenomena and sometimes provide a reasonable approximation
of the behaviour of more complex systemse.g., in statistical mechanics,
molecular vibrations are often approximated as harmonic oscillators. Several of the more
common analytical solutions are for a free (isolated) particle: a particle in a box, nite
a
potential well, 1D lattice, ring, or spherically symmetric potential; the hydrogen atom or
hydrogen-like atom; the quantum harmonic oscillator; the linear rigid rotor; and the
symmetric top.
For many systems, however, there is no analytic solution to the
Schrdinger equation, and the use of approximate solutions becomes necessary.
Some commonly used numerical techniques are: perturbation theory, density functional
theory, variational methods (such as the popular HartreeFock method which is the basis
of many post-HartreeFock methods), quantum Monte Carlo methods, the Wentzel
KramersBrillouin (WKB) approximation, and the discrete delta- potential method. The
interested reader is encouraged to consult specialized books on these methods.
2
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT
QUANTUM
QUANTUM WIRES AND QUANTUM DOTS
WELLS,
The most significant nanostructures required to design nanoelectronic devices are

Quantum Wells, Quantum Wires and Quantum Dots. They are the basic building blocks
of nanoelctronic devices. In nanoelectronics also we are going to control the transfer of
electrons. But how to confine them?, how to activate them?, how to fix the threshold
level for conductance?. All these questions will be answered when we understand the
physics of these three quantum structures.
Before discussing about the three types of fundamental nanostructures, let us
discuss the analogy of these structures for a basic understanding:
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Consider the examination results of say 10th standard in the Tamil Nadu scenario
in which around 6, 00,000 number of students appear every year. In this case consider the
result of the whole state as the first case, results of a district, a school and a class room as
the second, third and fourth cases respectively. Let us draw the bar diagram similar to the
energy level diagram for number of students having scored marks in different bands like
99-100, 98-99, 97-98 and so on.
Just visualize this bar diagram for the whole state, district, school and a class,
how it will look like?
When you look at the state level mark band diagram, each band will be crowded
and placed very close to each other. Here the spatial dimension of the state is larger and
the number of students considered is more. This case is very similar to bulk materials
where electrons are free to move in all the directions and no limitations or no
confinement. In this case electronic energy level bands will be crowded as well as will be
almost continuous.
When you look at the district level mark band diagram, each band will be less
crowded and placed close to each other but not like state level. This is because of the
reduced dimension and in-turn lesser number of students. This case is very similar to
Quantum Well where electrons are free to move only in two directions and confined to
one direction. In this case electronic energy level bands will not be crowded like bulk and
with an increased gap between bands.
When you look at the school level mark band diagram, each band will be having
still smaller number of students and bands are placed wider to each other. Here, further
reduction in the dimension of the sample resulting in band widening with minimum
number of students in each band. This case is very similar to Quantum Wire where
electrons are free to move in only one direction and confined to two directions. In this
case electronic energy level bands will be still widened and with much increased gap
between bands.
Finally, when you look at the Class level mark band diagram, each band will be
having very few numbers of students and bands are placed much wider to each other.
Here a class representing the smallest dimension in terms of sample considered. This
case is an analogy for the Quantum Dot. Since Quantum Dot is a nano-sized particle
where electrons are totally confined and cannot move anywhere. In this case electronic
energy level bands are widened to the maximum.
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The number students in a band and number electrons in a band are the analogy of
this example. As we reduce the size of the materials more and more we can confine
electrons more and more and so controlling, activating can be done at very low voltage
and current lelvels.
We can make use of these dots, wires and wells to fabricate a device say a
transistor or a gate or a memory device and they can work with voltage levels less than
0.2 V and current in the nano to pico Amps.
Most of the nanoelectronic devices are based on the semiconductor nanostructures
fabricated by tailoring the band gaps of desired level. The major focus of the band gap
engineering is to design non- traditional devices with unusual electron transport and
optical effects.
When we think about how to engineer the band gap?, Quantum well is the first answer.
Quantum Well?
The term well refers to a semiconductor region that is grown to possess a lower
energy, so that it acts as a trap for electrons and holes (electrons and holes gravitate
towards their lowest possible energy positions). They are referred to as quantum wells
because these semiconductor regions are only a few atomic layers thick; in turn, this
means that their properties are governed by quantum mechanics, allowing only specific
energies and band gaps. Because QW structures are very thin, they can be modified very
easily.
In other words
Quantum wells are real-world implementation of the particle in the box problem; they
act as potential wells for charge carriers and are typically experimentally realized by
epitaxial growth of a sequence of ultrathin layers consisting of semiconducting materials
of varying composition.
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Two dissimilar semiconductors with different band gaps can be joined to form a
heterojunction. The discontinuity in either the conduction or the valence band can be used
to form a potential well. If a thin layer of a narrower-band gap material 'A' say, is
sandwiched between two layers of a wider-band gap material 'B', then they form a double
heterojunction. If layer 'A' is sufficiently thin for quantum properties to be exhibited, then
such a band alignment is called a single quantum well.
Additional semiconductor layers can be included in the heterostructure, for
example a stepped or asymmetric quantum well can be formed by the inclusion of an
alloy between materials A and B.
Still more complex structures can be formed, such as symmetric or asymmetric
double quantum well and multiple quantum wells or superlattices. The difference
between the latter is the extent of the interaction between the quantum wells; in
particular, a multiple quantum well exhibits the properties of a collection of isolated
single quantum wells, whereas in a superlattice the quantum wells do interact. The
motivation behind introducing increasingly complicated structures is an attempt to tailor
the electronic and optical properties of these materials for exploitation in devices.
All of the structures illustrated so far have been examples of Type-I systems. In
this type, the band gap of one material is nestled entirely within that of the wider-band
gap material. The consequence of this is that any electrons or holes fall into quantum
wells which are within the same layer of material. Thus both types of charge carrier are
localised in the same region of space, which makes for efficient (fast) recombination.
In Type-II systems the band gaps of the materials, say 'A' and 'C', are aligned such
that the quantum wells formed in the conduction and valence bands are in different
materials. This leads to the electrons and holes being confined in different layers of the
semiconductor. The consequence of this is that the recombination times of electrons and
holes are long.
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How it will look like?

AGaAs/Ga1 -x Alx As layered structure and the in-plane motion of a charge
carrier
If the one-dimensional potential V(z) is constructed from alternating thin layers of
dissimilar semiconductors, then the particle, whether it be an electron or a hole, can move
in the plane of the layers.
Further reducing the dimensionality of the electron's environment from a twodimensional quantum well to a one-dimensional quantum wire and eventually to a zerodimensional quantum dot. The dimensionality refers to the number of degrees of freedom
in the electron momentum; in fact, within a quantum wire, the electron is confined across
two directions, rather than just the one in a quantum well, and, so, therefore, reducing the
degrees of freedom to one. In a quantum dot, the electron is confined in all threedimensions, thus reducing the degrees of freedom to zero.
The number of degrees of freedom D f in the electron motion, together with the extent of
the confinement D c , for the four basic dimensionality systems.
Sl.
No.
1
2
3
4
System
Df
Dc
Bulk 0 3
Quantum well 1 2
Quantum wire 2 1
Quantum dot 3
0
1
2
0
3
2
1
3
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2.1 Quantum Wire

2.1.1 How to prepare Quantum Wire?
A standard quantum well layer can be patterned with photolithography or perhaps
electron-beam lithography, and etched to leave a free standing strip of quantum well
material; the latter may or may not be filled in with an overgrowth of the barrier material
(in this case, Ga (1-x) Al x As ). Any charge carriers are still confined along the
heterostructure growth (z-) axis, as they were in the quantum well, but in addition
(provided the strip is narrow enough) they are now confined along an additional
direction, either the x- or the y-axis, depending on the lithography.
The following Fig. shows an expanded view of a single quantum wire, where clearly the
electron (or hole) is free to move in only one direction, in this case along the y-axis.
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2.2 Quantum Dot

Quantum dots can again be formed by further lithography and etching, e.g. if a
quantum well sample is etched to leave pillars rather than wires, then a charge carrier can
become confined in all three dimensions, as shown in Fig.
2.3 Two-Dimensional Structures: Quantum Wells

In a 2D structure, particles are conned to a thin sheet of thickness L z along the z
axis by innite potential barriers that create a quantum well, as illustrated in the below
figure.
A particle cannot escape from the quantum well 0 z L z and loses no energy
on colliding with its walls z=0 and z=L z . In real systems, this confinement is due to
electrostatic potentials (generated by external electrodes, doping, strain, impurities,
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etc.), the presence of interfaces between different materials (e.g., in core-shell

nanocrystals), the presence of surfaces (e.g., semiconductor nanocrystals), or a
combination of these agents. Motion of the particle in the other two directions (i.e., in
the xy plane) inside the quantum well is free. It is generally accepted that quantum
connement of electrons by the potential wells of nano meter-sized structures provides
one of the most powerful and versatile means to control the electrical, optical,
magnetic, and thermoelectric properties of solid state functional materials. A 1D
potential pro
le for electrons can be physically implemented by using two
heterojunctions. The below figure shows a quantum well structure.
A GaAs Quantum well inserted between two Al u Ga 1-u As as barrier layers. The
layer of GaAs is a quantum well because the barrier layers are made of a material with a
larger bandgap than GaAs; the energy difference between the valence band and
conduction band in a semiconductor is called the bandgap. By adjusting the aluminum
content of the barrier layers and the thickness of the GaAs layer at the time of growth,
quantum wells with electronic properties tailored to the users cations
speci
can be
created. This practice is referred to as quantum engineering.
The innitely deep 1D potential well is the simplest connement potential to treat in
quantum mechanics. In classical mechanics, the solution to the problem is trivial, since
the particle will move in a straight line and always at the same speed until it reects
from a wall at an equal but opposite angle. However, in order
ndtothe quantum
mechanical solution, many fundamental concepts need to be introduced.
After restricting analysis to an innitely deep 1D potential well aligned alon g the z axis
will be of the form
(5)
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(6)
The time harmonic Schrodinger wave equation can be written as
Outside the chosen potential well, the potential nite;
is in hence, the only possible
solution is ( z ) =0, z 0 or z Lz , which in turn implies that all values of the energy
E are allowed. Within thenitely
in
deep potential well, the Schrdinger equation
simplies to
(7)
Note that ( z ) must be continuous inside the well and must be zero on both walls.
Furthermore, since the particle must exist somewhere on the z axis, and because
(mod ( ( z ))) 2 is the probability of nding the particle at a particular value of z, it follows
+
that
(mod( ( z )))
= 1 . With these stipulations the solutions of the simplified
Schrodinger equations are many and these solutions are called Eigen functions and
maybe written as
n z
1, 2,3......
nz = 2 / Lz sin( z ) , 0 < z < Lz , nz =
(8)
Lz
The index n z =0 is ruled out since ( z ) = 0 then for all z (, ) , corresponding to the
case where there is no particle in the innitely deep potential well. Negative values of n z
are also neglected, since they merely change the sign of the sine function. The
complete solution is the superposition of all the Eigen functions and is given as
(9)
Where, A n are the coefcients of expansion i ndicating the relative importance of the
eigen functions in the solution. Each eigen function describes a state of electron
connement. The Eigen energy associated with n z th Eigen function is given by
(10)
Where, n z is called principle quantum number.
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2.3.1 Zero-Point Energy

Quantum size effects are apparent for reduced size. Thus, a particle
ned
conto an
innitely deep potential well has only specic (discrete) energy levels, and the zeroenergy level is not one of them. The lowest possible energy level of the particle is usually
called the zero-point energy or connement energy, which can be understood in terms of
the Heisenberg uncertainty principle as follows: Because the particle is constrained
within a nite region, the variability in its position has an upper bound. As the variability
in the particles momentum cannot then be zero due to the uncertainty principle, the
particle must contain some energy that increases as the width L z of the innitely deep
potential well decreases.
3 ONE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES: QUANTUM WIRES

AND NANOWIRES
For 1D structuresusually called quantum wires , although other systems such as rods,
belts, and tubes also fall within this categoryit is possible to decouple the motion along
the length of the wire, which is taken to be along the x axis, as shown in Fig.
Thus, the potential V(r) is written as the sum of a 2D connement potential (yz plane)
plus a potential along the wire (x axis) as
(11)
Accordingly, the wave function is written as the following product of two components:
(12)
Substituting the above two equations in time harmonic Schrodinger equation, we get
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(13)
From this equation it is possible to obtain the following two autonomous equations of
motion:
The
above
equation
is
satisfied
by
plane
wave
of
(14)
the form
being the particles momentum along the x axis, thus

leading to the dispersion relationship
(15)
This equation gives the energy level along the x axis, in which direction the particle is
free to move, and resembles that of a 3D structure (wherein connement is not possible).
The potential V(2,3)(y,z) is given by
(16)
Outside the rectangular region, the wave function
( y, z ) is identically zero.
Therefore the second equation of motion needs to solved in the rectangular region and
can be written as
(2,3)
(17)
The form of the potential in this equation allows the wave function dependencies on y
and z to be decoupled, ie.,
. The method of separation of
variables can be used which allows the energy superposition E(2, 3)=E2 + E3 and leads to
the following decoupled equations.
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(18)
These equations are identical to the Schrodinger equation in the deep potential well and
are subject to similar boundary conditions. Basically, since the potential energy outside
the wire is innite, the standard boundary condition of continuity of the wave function at
the walls implies that the product of 2 ( y ) and 3 ( z ) must be zero on the walls. Hence,
the Eigen solutions are
Thus,
(19)
The quantum states in a quantum wire are described by two principal quantum numbers
(n y and n z ), while only one principal quantum number is needed for a quantum well.
Similarly to that for a quantum well, the Eigen energy in a quantum wire increases for
decreasing size. Also, a lower effective mass results in a larger Eigen energy for a given
size.
The corresponding Energy levels are given by
(20)
Where, n y and n z are principle quantum numbers.
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4 Zero-Dimensional Structures: Quantum Dots and

Nanodots
A special 0D structure is now considered: the cuboid quantum dot, more often
designated as the quantum box shown in Fig. This special case can be used for a
qualitative description of the response of quantum dots of many shapes. Zerodimensional structures of other shapes, such as spherical quantum dots, require numerical
solution of the Schrdinger equation. The quantum box is a generalization of a quantum
wire of rectangular cross- section, in that there is additional connement along the x axis
to 0 < x < Lx . This additional con
nement removes the only degree of freedom
remaining in the particles momentum, thus localizing it in all three directions.
According to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, increased spatial nement
con
will
result in increased energy of the conned states.
For simplicity, let the potential be zero inside the quantum box but innite
everywhere else; i.e.,
(21)
The 3D time-harmonic Schrdinger equation within the quantum box becomes
(22)
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The method of separation of variables applies, leading to Eigen functions described by

three principal quantum numbers (n x n y n z ) as follows:
(23)
The Eigen energy for a specific Eigen function is given by
(24)
Of fundamental importance is the fact that E nxnynz is the total particle energy because of
3D connement, in contrast with the previous two cases in which the solutions for
the conned states in a quantum well and a quantum wire gave us only the Eigen
energies associated with transverse connement. The discrete energy spectrum in
a quantum box and the lack of free propagation are the main features
distinguishing quantum boxes from quantum wells and quantum wires. As these
features are typical for atoms, quantum dots and quantum boxes are often called
articial atoms.
A remarkable feature of a quantum box is that when two or more of the
dimensions are the same (e.g., L x = L y ), more than one wave function
corresponds to the same total energy. When exactly two wave functions have
the same energy, that energy level is said to be doubly degenerate. Degeneracy
results from the symmetry of the structure.
5 Quantum conductance
Conductance is the measure of transport of electrons in the medium. Then, what is
mean by quantum conductance? It is the limit of the material in low dimension.
Before discuss the quantum conductance, we know the transport properties in the
classical and quantum level.
In classical (i.e., size not in the range of nanometers) obeys the scattering
transport mechanism. Moreover, scattering transport failed in quantum level called as
ballistic transport. Table shows the difference in both transports as follows
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Ballistic Transport
Scattering transport
In low dimensional material, travelling of

electron without scattering is known as
Ballistic transport
Normally in three dimensional material,

travelling of electrons deflected by various
centres like stable ion, defects, electrons, etc.
causes the restriction for the flow is known as
scattering transport
Energy and Momentum does not change
Energy and Momentum changes
Electrons are not necessarily in equilibrium

with the material
Electrons are equilibrium with the material
Electrons are not restricted to the lowest

unoccupied energy states in the material
Scattering can makes an electron to transport

from high energy state to low energy states
There is no interaction between the electrons,

hence electrons are treated to move in free
space
Electron interaction attributed to the scattering

effect, classified as elastic and inelastic
Elastic scattering: This affect only the
momentum of the electron, not the energy
Inelastic scattering : This affect both the
energy and momentum
Consider the quantum wire a two dimensional material, L is the length of the
wire, a potential flow from one end to other; it is shown in the Figure.
To flow a charge then should be difference in Fermi level (Chemical Potential) at the two
end of wire.
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Charge will flow from the contact to quantum wire, depends upon the Fermi level
difference and it leads to the accumulation and depletion of electrons from the end of the
contact. It is shown in the Figure.

where
region,
is the Chemical potential of Drain region, is the chemical potential of Source

is the potential difference between the two contacts.
Let the potential difference

(25)
Total current in the Quantum wire can be represented as

(26)
We know that total energy expressed as

(27)
Differentiate the equation with respect to wave vector, we have

(28)
Upon substitution of wave vector value, we get the relation

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(29)
Hence, velocity of the electrons in the quantum wire can be calculated from the equation,
also we know that by classically distance travelled by unit time.
Therefore,
(30)
(31)
Now, number of electrons present in the quantum wire is the number of states between
the two levels and is represented as
(32)
Substitute Eqs. 8& 7 in 2
(33)
(34)
(35)
(36)
Quantum wire of conductance has some constant with applied voltage, it is compared
classical mechanics, then it follows the ohms law, resistance will be
(37)
By substituting, the constants value h(Plancks constant) and q (charge)

(38)
where quantum conductance
is the inverse of resistance, then
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(39)
If the quantum wire has multiple anode, then the total conductance
(40)
Thus, Ballistic conductance principle also has a resistance, which is independent of

length of the wire. But, velocity of electrons depends on the state (Dimension) of the
wire.
6 QUANTUM CAPACITNECE
Quantum capacitance (density) is a physical value first introduced by Serge Luryi
(1988) to describe the 2D-electronic systems in silicon surfaces and GaAs junctions.
This capacitance was defined through standard density of states in the solids. Quantum
capacitance could be used in the quantum Hall Effect (integer and fractional)
investigations as a new approach which uses quantum LC circuit.
The quantum capacitance in grapheneis given by
[1]
C QL = C QO ~ 2,187.10^-3 F/m^2
(41)
6.1 QUANTUM CONDUCTANCE

The conductance is defined as Current per potential difference
G = I/V
(42)
Current is defined as:

I =nq/t
(43)
Where
nis the number of electrons and
q is the charge of an electron
Potential difference is defined as: V =U/q
Wherenis the number of electrons and
U is the electrostatic charge
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In the quantum system electrons propagate as waves.

o The electrons get energy from collisions with ions.
o The ions have energy of kT and only the electrons that are within kT of
the Fermi level can be promoted to the conduction band.
o The exclusion principle dictates that there will only be a few electrons at
that level.
o Thermal vibrations cause scattering of the electrons.
6.2 Effect of Quantum Conductance

Consider a clock speed of 3GHz.This would require as many as 3109electrons to
pass though a single molecule transistor. The current required to support this clock speed
would be focused onto a very small area which could exceed the energy of the molecular
bonds.
What we need 1A = 1C/1s, V=IR, V=1J/1C, R=1027.3, e= 1.60210 19C, 1 amp =
6.2421018e/s
7 QUANTUM HALL EFFECT

The quantumHall effect (or integer quantum Hall effect) is a quantummechanical version of the Hall effect, observed in two-dimensional electron
systems subjected to low temperatures and strong magnetic fields, in which the
Hall conductivity takes on the quantized values
(44)
where e is the elementary charge and h is Planck's constant.
The prefactor is known as the "filling factor", and can take on either integer (
= 1, 2, 3, .. ) or rational ( = 1/3, 2/5, 3/7, 2/3, 3/5, 1/5, 2/9, 3/13, 5/2, 12/5 ...) values.
The quantum Hall effect is referred to as the integer or fractional quantum Hall effect
depending on whether is an integer or fraction respectively. The integer quantum Hall
effect is very well understood, and can be simply explained in terms of single-particle
orbitals of an electron in a magnetic field (see Landau quantization). The fractional
quantum Hall effect is more complicated, as its existence relies fundamentally on
Page 24 of 29
electronelectron interactions. It is also very well understood as an integer quantum Hall

effect, not of electrons but of charge-flux composites known as composite fermions
7.1 Integer Quantum Hall Effect Landau Levels

In two dimensions, when classical electrons are subjected to a magnetic field
they follow circular cyclotron orbits. When the system is treated quantum mechanically,
these orbits are quantized.
The energy levels of these quantized orbitals take on discrete values:
(45)
Where c = eB/m is the cyclotron frequency.
These orbitals are known as Landau levels, and at weak magnetic fields, their
existence gives rise to many interesting "quantum oscillations" such as the Shubnikov
de Haas oscillations and the de Haasvan Alphen effect (which is often used to map the
Fermi surface of metals). For strong magnetic fields, each Landau level is highly
degenerate (i.e. there are many single particle states which have the same energy E n ).
Specifically, for a sample of area A, in magnetic field B, the degeneracy of each
Landau level is
(46)
Whereg s represent a factor of 2 for spin degeneracy, and 0 is the magnetic flux
quantum.
For sufficiently strong B-fields, each Landau level may have so many states that
all of the free electrons in the system sit in only a few Landau levels; it is in this regime
where one observes the quantum Hall Effect.
Page 25 of 29
Integral Quantum Hall effect can be accurately modeled as a non-interacting

electron gas in a magnetic field
The Fractional Quantum Hall effect involves composite fermion quasi-particles
which are electrons with attached flux quanta
Transport properties of semiconductor are a complicated process because of their

dependence on the actual size of the samples. Based on the size of the semiconductor
structure the need for quantum treatment can be desired. In order to define the limits of
various transport regimes one may scale the size of the sample against the de-Broglie
wavelength. This De- Brogliewavelength for an electron travelling with the thermal
kinetic energy in a semiconductor as
(47)
whereh=Plancks constant
p=momentum
E=energy
=de Broglie wavelength of a free electron
= electron effective mass in semiconductor
The room temperature De-Broglie wavelength of a free electron is ~76, and that
of electron in GaAs is ~295.For several semiconducting materials, the D-B wavelength
is comparably with the size of semiconductor structures in the nanostructure limit, hence
a Quantum mechanical treatment of the transport properties in nanostructures must be
considered.Quantum Transport in low dimensional is very interesting and offers the
Page 26 of 29
investigation remarkable properties such as the Quantum Hall effect, shubnikov-de Haus
effect, ballistic transport and the fractional quantum hall effect. As we know, the
shubnikov-de Hauseffectwill help us to precisely measurer the carrier concentration
formed at the hetrojunctions interfaces.
The investigation of two dimensional system in a perpendicular magnetic field
provides quantisation hall resistance, which results from the quantisation of energy in
series of landau levels. Hence understanding these effects will give a clear picture of
transport properties especially conductance of low dimensional conducting
semiconductor materials, which are the building blocks of nanoelectronic devises.
7.2 Quantum Hall Effect

As a starting point, it is very beneficial to understand the Drude classical model of
the magnetoresistance in semiconductors. The classical equation of motion of an electron
in the presence ofmagnetic (B) and electric ( ) fields can be expressed as
(48)
where is the drift velocity and is the scattering time. The magnetic field is applied
along the z axis, and and are assumed to vary with time as
. This equation
can be expressed in its three components as
(49)
By multiplying Eq. 3 by the carrier concentration

comparing the results with the relation
and the electron charge , and

(50)
where is the conductivity tensor, one can obtain the components of the conductivity
tensor as
(51)
where
is the conductivity in the absence of the magnetic field. For the
steady-state case where
, the conductivity tensor can be written as
Page 27 of 29
(52)
Thus, the conductivity in a two dimensional system in the presence of a magnetic field
applied along the z direction can be expressed as
(53)
and the resistivity tensor is related to the conductivity tensor as

(54)
The resistivity tensor can now be written as

(55)
The condition
implies that the carriers are collision less. By applying
this condition to Eq. 5, one can obtain
and
. In the presence of
collisions, where
, we have
(56)
where these conductivity components are simply the sum of the collision and
collisionless parts. When the Fermi energy level is between Landau levels labelled n and
n +1,no elastic scattering can occur at low temperatures(T4.2K), and the energy
separation between consecutive Landau levels is
. This case is thus equivalent to the
condition
, which gives
, and
is given by its classical collisionless
value. From the density of states per Landau level,
, one can write the carrier
density n s as
, where n is the nth Landau level. The Hall conductivity
can
be expressed as
(57)
This equation shows that the Hall resistivity takes quantized values of 25812.87/n
whenever the Fermi energy level lies between filled-broadened Landau levels. This is
called the quantum Hall effect.
The quantum Hall effect is observed for integer filling factors as
.
However, at low temperature (T< 5.2 K), a fractional value of the filling factor v has been
observed for the lowest Landau level in many hetrojunction systems with high mobility.
In this case, v can take on values of p/q. where p and q are integers. This is called the
fractional quantum Hall effect. Laughlin (1983) provided an explanation of the fractional
quantum Hall effect based on the condensation of electrons or holes into a collective
Page 28 of 29
ground state due to electron-electron or hole-hole interactions. This ground state is

, where
is the Landau
separated from the nearest excited by an energy of
magnetic length. The possibility of a repulsive interaction between carriers of the same
charge, leading to a condensation, is related to the two dimensional character of the
system. The condensed phase consists of quasi-particles called anyons, of fractional
charge
, where
that follow statistics intermediate between Fermi-Dirac
and Bose-Einstein formalisms.
8 REFERENCES
1. Tsui, D. C., H. L. Stormer, J. C. M. Huang, J. S. Brooks, and M. J.
Naughton.Observation of a Fractional Quantum Number.Phys. Rev. B28 (1983):
2274.
2. Laughlin, R. B..Anomalous Quantum Hall Effect: An Incompressible Quantum
Fluidwith Fractionally Charged Excitations. Phys. Rev. Lett. 50 (1983): 1395.
Page 29 of 29

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

Quantum Wells, Quantum Wires, Quantum

R. John Bosco Balaguru

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

INTRODUCTION ABOUT QUANTUM WELLS,

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1.2 Classification of Low-dimensional Materials

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

Table 1. Nanostructures and their typical nanoscale dimensions

Tradition has determined that reduced-dimensionality structures are labeled by the

1.3 Why we need Quantum Mechanics?

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

+ 2 + 2 is the Laplacian operator, i= 1 , and V(r t) is the

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

Where (r ) is a complex-valued function of space only, and E is the energy of the

The most significant nanostructures required to design nanoelectronic devices are

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

Joint Initiative of IITs and IISc Funded by MHRD

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

How it will look like?

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

2.1 Quantum Wire

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

2.2 Quantum Dot

2.3 Two-Dimensional Structures: Quantum Wells

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

etc.), the presence of interfaces between different materials (e.g., in core-shell

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

= 1 . With these stipulations the solutions of the simplified

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

2.3.1 Zero-Point Energy

3 ONE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURES: QUANTUM WIRES

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

being the particles momentum along the x axis, thus

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

Joint Initiative of IITs and IISc Funded by MHRD

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

4 Zero-Dimensional Structures: Quantum Dots and

NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

The method of separation of variables applies, leading to Eigen functions described by

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NPTEL Electrical & Electronics Engineering Semiconductor Nanodevices

In low dimensional material, travelling of

Normally in three dimensional material,

Energy and Momentum does not change

Energy and Momentum changes

Electrons are not necessarily in equilibrium

Electrons are equilibrium with the material

Electrons are not restricted to the lowest

Scattering can makes an electron to transport

There is no interaction between the electrons,

Electron interaction attributed to the scattering