Coherent electron transport in double-barrier heterostructures with parallel electric and magnetic fields is analyzed theoretically and with the aid of a quantum simulator accounting for 3-dimensional transport effects. The onset-voltage shift induced by the magnetic field in resonant tunneling diodes, which was previously attributed to the cyclotron frequency wc inside the well is found to arise from an upward shift of the non-zero ground (lowest) Landau state energy in the entire quantum region where coherent transport takes place. The spatial dependence of the cyclotron frequency is accounted for and verified to have a negligible impact on resonant tunneling for the device and magnetic field strength considered. A correction term for the onset-voltage shift arising from the magnetic field dependence of the chemical potential is also derived. The Landau ground state with its nonvanishing finite harmonic oscillator energy ℏwc/2 is verified however to be the principal contributor to the onset voltage shift at low temperatures.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0112446,
title = {Onset voltage shift due to non-zero Landau ground state level in coherent magnetotransport},
author = {Dae Kwan Kim and Patrick Roblin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0112446},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
13 pages, and 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B