Low-field mobility in an electrostatically confined 2D rectangular nanowire: effect of density of states and phonon confinement

Transport in GaN-based nanoscale devices is of supreme importance for various applications. While the transport in bulk and two-dimensional (2D) structures is relatively well understood, understanding one-dimensional (1D) transport is still at its nascent stage. More importantly, the nanoscale structures may not operate at an explicit dimension of 2D and 1D. The understanding of the transport becomes limited on such an occasion. Here, we investigate the evolution of low-field mobility in GaN-based nanostructures for increasing quantum confinement in a uniform framework. We have used a split-gate architecture to change the degree of quantum confinement electrostatically. The low-field mobility is experimentally determined, which is then matched using scattering theory. It is shown that acoustic phonon, polar optical phonon, and scattering from piezoelectric fields dominate these devices. Contrary to intuition, the piezoelectric fields play the most determining role in low-field regimes. In addition, the evolving density of states and 2D phonon confinement, in addition to electron confinement, lead to a non-monotonic change in mobility. A decrease in the number of states near conduction band minima tends to increase mobility by reducing the number of final scattering states for the electrons. A larger overlap between confined electrons and phonons aggravates scattering and reduces mobility. These two competing effects can lead to many possible values for mobility during device operation.

Automated summary

Transport in GaN-based nanoscale devices is crucial for various applications, but the understanding of one-dimensional transport is still in its early stages. The low-field mobility in these devices is influenced by acoustic phonon, polar optical phonon, and scattering from piezoelectric fields. Contrary to intuition, piezoelectric fields play a determining role in low-field regimes, leading to non-monotonic changes in mobility due to evolving density of states and 2D phonon confinement.