On the single-particle-reduced entropy of a gated nanowire system in the Coulomb blockade regime

Abstract

In this paper, the single-particle-reduced entropy of a nanowire field-effect transistor (NWFET) in the Coulomb blockade regime is studied by means of a multi-configurational self-consistent Green's function approach. Assuming that the many-body statistical preparation of the system is described by a mixture of Slater determinants of relevant natural orbitals, the single-particle-reduced entropy can be interpreted as a measure of the degree of mixture of the system's preparation. Considering the realistic case of an InP based NWFET, we present current-voltage characteristics and entropy diagrams for a range of equilibrium and non-equilibrium states. Signatures of few-electron Coulomb charging effects can be identified, as known from experimental situations. Furthermore, we illustrate the significance of the single-particle-reduced entropy by analyzing the corresponding electronic configurations.