Home // International Journal On Advances in Systems and Measurements, volume 3, numbers 3 and 4, 2010 // View article

Study of the Boundary Conditions of the Wigner Function Computed by Solving the Schrödinger Equation

Authors:
Andrea Savio
Alain Poncet

Keywords: Quantum transport, Schrödinger equation, Wigner function

Abstract:
In this work, we compute the Wigner distribution from wavefunctions that are generated by solving the Schrödinger equation. Our goal is to propose an avenue of research that may help better understand certain limitations of deterministic Wigner transport equation solvers, such as negative electron densities or limited charge drops in presence of potential barriers. We evaluate the numerical accuracy required by the Schrödinger solver to compute the Wigner function and compare the performance of an analytic and a numerical solver applied to a constant potential profile, as well as to single- and double-barrier one-dimensional structures. Then, we investigate how the Wigner function boundary conditions vary in these same structures as the contact length increases. We also investigate the range of the wave vector grid required to accurately compute the charge from the Wigner function. Finally, we carry out the same study on biased structures.

Pages: 99 to 109

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2010. Used with permission.

Publication date: April 6, 2011

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-261x