Chapter7-1

Chapter 7. Two Dimensional Electron Gas System (2DEG)

Si MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor)
GaAs HEMT (high electron mobility transistor)
S. M. Sze, Physics of Semiconductor Devices (John Wiley, New York, 1981)
7.1 Two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG)
Chapter7-2
momentum lost
by scattering
( ) state steady
field scattering

dt
p d
dt
p d

momentum relaxation time

v
d

E
=
e
m
m

m

v
d

m
Mobility:
momentum received
from external field

e

(cm
2
/Vs)
phonon scattering
10
7
10
6
10
5
10
4
10 100
T
impurity scattering
modulation-doped GaAs 2-DEG
doped bulk GaAs
Chapter7-3
sheet density:
Si MOSFET (metal-oxide-
semiconductor field
effect transistor)
E 1MV cm
positive
gate voltage
e
V V
d
n
th g
ox
ox
s

=

GaAs HEMT (high electron mobility
transistor)
Schottky
barrier
modulation
doping
hetero junction
+
modulation doping
high mobility and
high sheet density
50nm
10
11
~10
12
cm
-2
5V
0
9 . 11
Chapter7-4
( )
( ) ( ) ( ) y x E y x y x U
m
A e i
E
s
, , ,
2
2
=

+
+
+

Effective mass equation:

( )
( ) ( ) ( ) r E r r U
m
A e i
E
c

+
+
+
2
2

E
c
= constant,

A = 0, U

r
( )
= 0

r
( )
= e
i

r
implicitly means the real wavefunction
E
s
potential energy
(due to space charge etc.)
( ) ( )
s
E E
m
E N =

(position-dependent)
conduction band energy
vector potential
(magnetic field)
(plane wave)

u

k

r
( )
e
i

r
Effective mass equation in 2-DEG system:
( ) ( )
( )
( )
2 2
2
2
y x n c
y k x k i
n
k k
m
E E
e z r
y x
+ + + =
=
+

(single band: n =1)
Two-dimensional density of states:
: a factor of 2 (for spin) included
2D-DOS is constant for all energies exceeding E
s
.
( ) ( )
s v s
E E
m
g g E N =

2
2
g
s
: spin degeneracy
g
v
: valley degeneracy
2.9 10
10
1/cm
2
meV for GaAs (m = 0.07 m
0
)
Z
E
F

2
n =1

1
(occupied)
n = 2
(empty)
Chapter7-5
(unit step function)
f E
( )
E
f
E
( )
Degenerate and non-degenerate 2-DEG:
f E
( )
=
1
e
EE
f ( )
k
B
T
+1
(Fermi-Dirac distribution)
(Boltzmann distribution)
degenerate (low temperature) limit
sheet density
de Broglie wavelength :
dB
=
h
P
( )
non-degenerate (high temperature) limit
e
E
s
E
f ( )
k
B
T
>>1
f E
( )
e
E
f
k
B
T
e
E k
B
T
e
E
s
E
f ( )
k
B
T
<<1
E
E
f
E
s
f E
( )
N E
( )
E
E
f
E
s
f E
( )
N E
( )
( )
s f v s s
E E
m
g g n =
2
2
Fermi wavenumber
( )
v s
s
s f
f
g g
n
E E m
k
4
2
=

7.2 Characteristic lengths

f

2
k
f
=
g
s
g
v

n
s
(Fermi wavelength)
(GaAs: n
s
=5 10
11
cm
-2
, g
s
=2, g
v
=1
f
35nm)
Chapter7-6
At low temperatures the current is carried mainly by electrons
having an energy close to the Fermi energy so that the Fermi
wavelength is the relevant length. Other electrons with less kinetic
energy have longer wavelengths but they do not contribute to the
conductance.
1

m
=
1

m
T mk k
B
T
2
2 2
=

=
collision (momentum
scattering)
(thermal de Broglie wavelength)
coherence length of 2-DEG
An electron in a perfect crystal moves as if it were in vacuum
but with a different mass.
Mean free path (L
m
= v
f

m
);
(GaAs: =3 10
7
cm/s for n
s
=5 10
11
cm
-2
,
m
=100ps
L
m
=v
f

m
30m)
(GaAs: T =4K
T
250nm)
Any deviation from perfect crystallinity
(impurities, lattice vibrations, other electrons)
effectiveness [0, 1] momentum
relaxation time
collision
time
m
k
f
f
v

=
If L <L
m
ballistic transport
( )
T k
m
k
B
=

2
2

Chapter7-7
Phase relaxation length (L

):
1

=
1

effectiveness phase
relaxation time
(A) Standard argument
Rigid (static) scatterers do not contribute to phase relaxation;
only fluctuating (dynamic) scatterers contribute to phase
relaxation.
(B) Quantum mechanical argument
The interference is destroyed when a measurement tells us
which path the probability amplitude took.
electron
moving mirror
rigid mirror
x p h
(A) If the position uncertainty x of a moving mirror exceeds an
electron de Broglie wavelength, x > , the phase uncertainty
of the reflected electron wave exceeds 2 and thus the
interference disappears. (fluctuating scatterer model)
(B) If the momentum uncertainty p of a moving mirror becomes
smaller than (an electron momentum), , the
electron recoil imposed on the mirror allows us to tell the
electron took the horizontal path and thus the interference
disappears. (which-path measurement model)
k
k p <
Chapter7-8
In fact, the argument (A) is included in this QM argument (B).
k p <
xp h
( )
x >
measurement error of
electron momentum
back action noise of
electron position
L
0
1
Visibility
phonon emission
no phonon emission
L

B
tells us an electron took
the lower arm
L
0
1
Visibility
phonon emission in
upper arm
phonon emission in lower arm
phonon emission
phonon emission
no degradation
L
0
1
Visibility
phonon emission
no degradation
Long wavelength phonons are less effective to dephase.
phonon emission
Chapter7-9

2
DEG 2 : constant ln ~
2

f
f
E
E

[B. L. Altschuler et al., J. Phys. C 15, 7367, 1982]

The energy uncertainty of an electron due to random
emission and absorption of phonons with energy :
( )
c

2
2
=
t

0
random-walk
The phase uncertainty after

:
3
1
2
~ 1 ~ ~

Electron-electron scattering is the dominant source of dephasing

at low temperatures.
= E E
f
(electron excess energy)
An electron with a small excess energy has very few states
to scatter down into since most states below it are already
full.
Since the average excess energy of electrons is ~ k
B
T at
low bias, ~ k
B
T and

1/T
2
.
[A. Yacoby et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 1938, 1991]
Chapter7-10
If L
m
< L < L

, diffusive transport
(phase relaxation length)
High-mobility semiconductors

m
( )
L

= v
f

ballistic
(phase relaxation length)
Low-mobility semiconductors

>>
m

<<
m
( )
L

2
=
1
2
v
f

m
( )
2

m
= D

diffusive
D=
1
2
v
f
2

m
: diffusion constant
Chapter7-11
slope ~T
2
1
/

(
s
e
c
-
1
)
Chapter7-12

J = e

v
d
n
s
= en
s

= e
m
m

m

v
d

m
= e

E +

v
d


B
[ ]

d

p
dt



scattering
=
d

p
dt



field
: current density
: conductivity
: mobility
7.3 Magnetoresistance
(A) Drude model (low field effect)

y
x
y
x
yy yx
xy xx
E
E
J
J

xx
=
yy
=
1

xy
=
yx
=
B
en
s
: longitudinal resistance
: transverse (Hall) resistance
V
2
V
3
I
V
1
W I
L
y
x
V
x
=V
1
V
2
V
y
=V
2
V
3
E
x
=
xx
J
x
, E
y
=
yx
J
x
J
y
= 0
( )

xx
=
V
x
W
IL

yx
=
V
y
I
I = J
x
W
V
x
= E
x
L
V
y
= E
y
W
m
e
m
B
B
m
e
m






v
x
v
y






=
E
x
E
y






carrier density and mobility:
n
s
= e
d
yx
dB [ ]
1
=
I e
dV
y
dB
=
1
e n
s

xx
=
I e
n
s
V
x
W L
Chapter7-13
transverse
resistance
longitudinal
resistance
Chapter7-14
cyclotron frequency:
Landau levels:
density of states:
If we change the magnetic field (keeping the electron density
constant) or change the electron density by means of a gate
voltage (keeping the magnetic field constant), the position of the
Fermi energy is changed relative to the Landau level peaks.
wrong!
(B) Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations (high-field effect )
Energy
E
E
2
E
s
density of states N(E)
E
1
( ) 0 :
2
= = B
m
E N

c

c
=
eB
m

+ + =
2
1
n E E
c s n

( )
h
eB m
E N
c n
2
2
= =

Intuitively it might appear that the longitudinal resistance is a

minimum whenever the Fermi level coincides with a peak of the
density of states.
(GaAs: B =2T N(E
n
) =9.6 10
10
cm
-2
)
Chapter7-15
The electric field only moves a few
electrons from -k
f
to +k
f
. The current is
carried by a small fraction of the total
electrons which move with
the Fermi velocity.
(degenerate/low temperature)
single particle point of view:
All the conduction electrons drift along
and contribute to the current.
(non-degenerate/high temperature)
The correct answer is just the opposite. The resistance is a
minimum when the Fermi energy lies between two Landau levels
so that the density of states at the Fermi energy is a minimum.
The resistance is almost zero even for the sample length of ~ 1mm.
(enormous suppression of momentum relaxation)
adiabatic transport
7.4 Drift velocity or Fermi velocity?

J = en
s

v
d
collective point of view:

J = e n
s

v
d

v
f
[ ]

v
f
n
s
v
d
v
f
The solution is edge state of quantum Hall effect.
Chapter7-16
( )
( )
m m f
d f
d f
d f
m
d
m
d
d
eEL eEv
m
k k
F F
m
k k
F
m
k k
F
eE
k
m
eE
v
m
k
2 2
2
~
2
~
2
~
2
2
2
= =

+
= = =
+

Quasi-Fermi level separation:

: quasi-Fermi level for electrons moving
to +x direction
: quasi-Fermi level for electrons moving
to -x direction
the energy that an
electron gains from the
electric field in a mean
free path