THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF DIFFERENT FORMULATIONS OF THE ELECTRON-PLASMON INTERACTION UNDER TRANSIENT CONDITIONS

We present a comparison of two different methods of including the elec tron-electron long-range interaction on the dynamics of hot electrons in degenerate GaAs under transient conditions in two different hot ele ctron transistor structures of 60- and 120-nm base widths, respectivel y. The first approach is quantum mechanically based while the second f ollows a semiclassical prescription. The calculated energy spectrum, v elocity distribution, and percentage of injected carriers collected in the hot electron transistors are determined under three different con ditions: the inclusion of the plasmon interaction through the quantum- mechanical formulation, the inclusion of the plasmon interaction throu gh the semiclassical technique, and with no plasmon interaction. The c alculated energy spectrums within the two plasmon models are qualitati vely similar. They differ only by the extent to which the peaks are br oadened and the absolute ratio of collected to injected carriers. Beca use of the very different energy relaxation within the plasmon models, the ratio of collected to injected electrons is predicted to be far s maller using the quantum-mechanical model than the semiclassical model . Subsequently, knowledge of the absolute ratio of the collected to in jected carriers in a hot electron transistor would give some indicatio n of the appropriateness of each model.