The steady-state self-consistent solution to the nonlinear Wigner-function equation; a new approach

Abstract

Electron transport in semiconductor structures is modelled at a variety of levels of sophistication, with solutions of the nonlinear Wigner-function equation for the electron distribution being more realistic, especially when scattering and electron-electron interactions are included. Obtaining these solutions is very demanding of supercomputing time. We introduce and illustrate a new and efficient approach to solving the nonlinear Wigner-function equation in the solid state which should be applicable to diffusive and ballistic transport in mesoscopic systems.