Evaluation of Phase Coherent Length of Hot Electrons Based on Wigner Distribution Function

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Abstract
A new methodology for evaluation of the phase coherent length of hot electrons is proposed based on the Wigner distribution function. In our approach, the coherent length can be evaluated directly from the resonant width in the momentum-space of the Wigner distribution function under the influence of electron-electron interactions and phonon scattering. In this paper, a coherent length of hot electrons created in a double barrier resonant tunneling structure is studied. It is found that the electron coherency deteriorates in the quantum well layer due to the interaction with the accumulated electrons, and that consequently to obtain hot electrons with longer coherency from the resonant tunneling structure it should be biased near the valley region of the I-V curve rather than at the peak voltage.