ABSTRACT
The hot-electron effect is a nonlinear transport behavior in ultrasmall devices, but the electron movement is classical. In traditional transistors, whose length is larger than the average free path of electrons, the electron's movement is classical, which can be described by the Boltzmann equation. But when the scale of a device is so small that its scale is about or smaller than some characteristic lengths, there will be distinct quantum effects of current. A major factor which affects the phase relaxation is the inelastic scattering of the electron-phonon. A phonon is a quantum mode of lattice vibrations, and it is not a fixed point as an impurity or a defect, so it’s scattering on electrons is random. Experiments found that for a small quantum dot, only when the electric voltage is larger than a certain value, the electron can pass through the dot.
