Analytical solutions for five examples of shunted tunneling junctions showing promise for terahertz applications

TL;DR

This paper presents analytical solutions for various shunted tunneling junction models, demonstrating their potential for terahertz applications by analyzing electron interactions and device parameters.

Contribution

The study introduces a systematic analytical approach to solve for electron tunneling in shunted junctions with different potential barriers, highlighting their promise for terahertz devices.

Findings

Analytical solutions for five shunted junction models obtained.

Device operation at frequencies up to 1,000 THz suggested.

Parameter space analysis provides insights into device design.

Abstract

We used analytical methods to study the interaction of electrons with shunted models consisting of a rectangular, triangular, or delta function. potential barrier in series with a pre-barrier region at zero potential. In each model the shunted boundary conditions cause the matrix equation to have only zeros in the right-hand column vector. Thus, the determinant for each matrix must be zero for a non-trivial solution. The determinant for each model contains only the parameters (e.g. the length of the shunt, the length and height of the barrier, and the electron energy). Thus, the complete set of solutions for each model is obtained by using algebra to determine all of the points in the parameter space, and then to calculate the coefficients for each model. Any path from one point to another in the parameter space corresponds to a possible history for the operation of the model. In prototypes the shunts could be filaments of certain metals that provide quasi-coherent electron transport over mean-free paths of tens of nm. Quasi-static simulations of the time-independent Schrodinger equation suggest that a device with a size of 100 nm could operate at frequencies up to 1,000 THz.