Simulation of quantum-ballistic nanoswitches

A two-dimensional model based on the solution of the Schrödinger-Poisson system in effective-mass formulation is proposed for the calculation of quantum-ballistic transport processes in nanoswitch structures. The method is appropriate to properly describe the strong confinement of the electrons in the heterostructure. Using scattering boundary conditions an energy-dependent transmission matrix is calculated that allows us to determine the total charge density of all electrons injected into the device by integration over energy. In this approach space charge effects are self-consistently taken into account. The practicality of the model for numerical simulation is demonstrated with reference to measured data for various device geometries. We find that for device structures such as the Y-branch switch non-linear effects are of crucial importance.