Conductivity and size quantization effects in semiconductor $\delta$-layer systems

Abstract

We present an open-system quantum-mechanical 3D real-space study of the conduction band structure and conductive properties of two semiconductor systems, interesting for their beyond-Moore and quantum computing applications: phosphorus $\delta$-layers in silicon and the corresponding $\delta$-layer tunnel junctions. In order to evaluate size quantization effects on the conductivity, we consider two principal cases: nanoscale finite-width structures, used in transistors, and infinitely-wide structures, electrical properties of which are typically known experimentally. For devices widths $W<10$~nm, quantization effects are strong and it is shown that the number of propagating modes determines not only the conductivity, but the distinctive spatial distribution of the current-carrying electron states. For $W>10$~nm, the quantization effects practically vanish and the conductivity tends to the infinitely-wide device values. For tunnel junctions, two distinct conductivity regimes are predicted due to the strong conduction band quantization.