Chapter Abstract:
Summary Tunnelling plays an important role in many physical phenomena and devices, nuclear fusion, alpha decay, the scanning tunnelling microscope, the tunnel diode, tunn...Show MoreMetadata
Chapter Abstract:
Summary
Tunnelling plays an important role in many physical phenomena and devices, nuclear fusion, alpha decay, the scanning tunnelling microscope, the tunnel diode, tunnelling field‐effect transistors (FETs), etc. This chapter deals with the relatively simple problem of tunnelling through a rectangular potential barrier, and develops a method to obtain the probability of tunnelling through any potential barrier. Finding the tunnelling probability through a general potential barrier involves solving Schrodinger's equation where the external potential V (x) can have any form. The chapter explains how the current due to tunnelling can be estimated considering the properties of the material. In semiconductors, two different kinds of models are used to calculate the current resulting from tunnelling, local and non‐local models. Local models treat tunnelling as a phenomenon taking place from one energy band to another in the E‐k space of the material. The WKB approximation and Landauer's tunnelling formula can be classified as non‐local models.
Page(s): 18 - 38
Copyright Year: 2017
Edition: 1
ISBN Information: