Correlated charge transport in bilinear tunnel junction arrays

TL;DR

This paper investigates how charge correlations develop in a bilinear tunnel junction array using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, revealing stationary charge states and charge carrier recombination dynamics.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of charge correlations in a bilinear array, highlighting the influence of electrostatic interactions and bias configurations on transport behavior.

Findings

Stationary charge states form under single-rail bias.

Charge carrier recombination site drifts with symmetric bias.

Charge densities and correlation functions are characterized.

Abstract

We study theoretically the nature of correlations in space and time of the current in a one-dimensional bilinear array of tunnel junctions in the normal conduction limit, using the kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) method. The bilinear array consists of two parallel rows of tunnel junctions, capacitively coupled in a ladder configuration. The electrostatic potential landscape and the charge-charge interaction length both depend on the circuit capacitances, which in turn influence transport and charge correlations in the array. We observe the formation of stationary charge states when only one rail is voltage biased. When a symmetric bias is applied to both rails, the site at which the positive and negative charge carriers recombine can drift throughout the array. We also calculate charge densities and auto- and cross-correlation functions.