This textbook describes the physics of semiconductor nanostructures with emphasis on their electronic transport properties. At its heart are five fundamental transport phenomena: quantized conductance, tunnelling transport, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, the quantum Hall effect, and the Coulomb blockade effect. The book starts out with the basics of solid state and semiconductor physics, such as crystal structure, band structure, and effective mass approximation, including spin-orbit interaction effects important for research in semiconductor spintronics. It contains material aspects such as band engineering, doping, gating, and a selection of nanostructure fabrication techniques. The book discusses the Drude-Boltzmann-Sommerfeld transport theory as well as conductance quantization and the Landauer-Büttiker theory. These concepts are extended to mesoscopic interference phenomena and decoherence, magnetotransport, and interaction effects in quantum-confined systems, guiding the reader from fundamental effects to specialized state-of-the-art experiments.The book will provide a thorough introduction into the topic for graduate and PhD students, and will be a useful reference for lecturers and researchers working in the field.

A good book on quantum transport in semiconductor nanostructures, which fills an existing niche in the market. Highly topical and very nicely illustrated.

Autorentext
Professor Thomas Ihn took his PhD in Physics in 1994 at TU Munich, Germany, then did post-doctoral work at the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham. He began work as a Research Assistant at the Solid State Physics Laboratory, ETH Zurich, in 1998, and is now Professor of Physics there.

Klappentext

This textbook is a thorough introduction to the physics of semiconductor nanostructures and their transport properties. Graduate or PhD students who are interested in the field will be guided from their previous basic knowledge in solid state physics to state-of-the-art experiments. Lecturers and researchers will find it a useful reference.

Inhalt

1. Introduction; 2. Semiconductor Crystals; 3. Band Structure; 4. Envelope function and effective mass approximation; 5. Material aspects of heterostructures, doping, surfaces, and gating; 6. Fabrication of semiconductor nanostructures; 7. Electrostatics of Semiconductor nanostructures; 8. Quantum mechanics of semiconductor nanostructures; 9. Two-dimensional electron gases in heterostructures; 10. Diffusive classical transport in two-dimensional electron gases; 11. Ballistic electron transport in quantum point contacts; 12. Tunneling transport through potential barriers; 13. Multiterminal systems; 14. Interference effects in nanostructures; 15. Diffusive quantum transport; 16. Magnetotransport in two-dimensional systems; 17. Interaction effects in diffusive two-dimensional systems; 18. Quantum dots; 19. Coupled quantum dots; 20. Electronic noise in semiconductor nanostructures; 21. The Fano effect; 22. Measurements of the transmission phase; 23. Controlled dephasing experiments; 24. Quantum information processing