Abstract
The self-consistent electrostatic potential of a biased resonant-tunneling diode is examined using a quantum kinetic theory of open systems. The potential obtained is sensitively dependent upon the assumed magnitude of inelastic processes within the device and its contacts. If inelastic processes are neglected one finds a solution with an unphysically large electric field at one boundary, which is also obtained from an analysis using Schroedinger's equation. Including inelastic processes within the device permits screening of the electric field, leading to a much more credible potential. Furthermore, if the mean velocity of the electron distributions on the boundaries is allowed to shift in response to the boundary electric field, the resulting potential profiles closely resemble those obtained from simple screening theory.
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