Tunneling phenomena from non-equilibrium carrier distributions in semiconductor heterostructures

Abstract

We study tunneling phenomena in semiconductor heterostructures taking into account nonequilibrium carrier distributions. Due to the strong dependence of tunneling probabilities upon the carrier energy, some of the characteristics of tunneling current depend critically upon the carrier distribution function. Thus, to describe these phenomena a correct shape of the carrier distribution function is required. We analyze those effects which can be associated with the nonequilibrium character of the carrier distribution, both in steady-state resonant tunneling transport and in time-dependent tunneling phenomena. In time-dependent processes, we analyze the resonant and nonresonant escape time of extremely out-of-equilibrium carrier populations excited in a mesoscopic well. We found that these effects may have strong manifestations in resonant tunneling transport.