J Phys Condens Matter. 2010 Nov 24;22(46):465306. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/22/46/465306. Epub 2010 Nov 05.

Calculation of transmission probability by solving an eigenvalue problem.

Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal

Sergiy Bubin, Kálmán Varga

PMID: 21403367 DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/22/46/465306

Abstract

The electron transmission probability in nanodevices is calculated by solving an eigenvalue problem. The eigenvalues are the transmission probabilities and the number of nonzero eigenvalues is equal to the number of open quantum transmission eigenchannels. The number of open eigenchannels is typically a few dozen at most, thus the computational cost amounts to the calculation of a few outer eigenvalues of a complex Hermitian matrix (the transmission matrix). The method is implemented on a real space grid basis providing an alternative to localized atomic orbital based quantum transport calculations. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the efficiency of the method.

Publication Types

• Journal Article
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.