On the single‐particle‐reduced entropy of a gated nanowire system in the Coulomb blockade regime

Abstract

Abstractmagnified imageIn this Letter, the single‐particle‐reduced entropy of a nanowire field‐effect transistor (NWFET) in the Coulomb blockade regime is studied by means of a multi‐configura‐tional self‐consistent Green's function approach. Assuming that the many‐body statistical preparation of the system is described by a mixture of Slater determinants of relevant natural orbitals, the single‐particle‐reduced entropy can be interpreted as a measure of the degree of mixture of the system's preparation. Considering the realistic case of an InP based NWFET, we present current–voltage characteristics and entropy diagrams for a range of equilibrium and non‐equilibrium states. Signatures of few‐electron Coulomb charging effects can be identified, as known from experimental situations. Furthermore, we illustrate the significance of the single‐particle‐reduced entropy by analyzing the corresponding electronic configurations. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)