Modelling of injection of electrons by low-dimensional nanowire into a reservoir

Sammanfattning: High-mobility two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) which resides at the interface between GaAs and AlGaAs layered semiconductors has been used experimentally and theoretically to study ballistic electron transport. The present project is motivated by recent experiments in magnetic electron focusing. The proposed device consists of two quantum point contacts (QPCs) serving as electron injector and detector which are placed in the same semiconductor GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. This thesis is focused on the theoretical study of electron flow coming from the injector QPC (a short quantum wire) and going into an open two-dimensional (2D) reservoir. The transport is considered for non-interacting electrons at different transmission regimes using the mode-matching technique. The proposed mode-matching technique has been implemented numerically using Matlab software. Electron flow through the quantum wire with rectangular, conical and rounded openings has been studied with and without an applied electric bias. We have found that the geometry of the opening does not play a crucial role for the electron flow propagation while the conical opening allows the electrons to travel longer distances into the 2D reservoir. When electric bias is applied, the electron flow also penetrates farther into the 2D region. The results of this study can be applied in designing magnetic focusing devices.