MUTUAL HOT-PHONON EFFECTS IN COUPLED GAAS QUANTUM WIRES

Hot phonon effects on electron transport in coupled GaAs quantum wires embedded in AlAs have been investigated by a self-consistent Monte Ca rlo simulation. These results take into account optical phonon confine ment within the GaAs region and localization at its boundaries which i s caused by the presence of GaAs/AlAs heterointerfaces. Electrical con finement of electrons in several spatially separated quantum wire chan nels inside the GaAs region with common optical phonons (confined with in the whole GaAs bar) is assumed. We have investigated numerically mu tual interaction of electrons and phonons over a wide range of electri c fields (0 < E < 1000 V/cm) and lattice temperatures (30 K less than or equal to T less than or equal to 300 K). We demonstrate that in a s ystem of two quantum wires coupled through the common confined optical phonons, electron transport in one wire significantly affects electro n transport in the second wire due to the presence of the strong mutua l hot-phonon drag between these electron channels. This leads to a suf ficient modification of the carrier velocity-field characteristics in the structures investigated.