Electron electron interaction and classical mesoscopic phenomena in semiconductors

Abstract

I discuss the effect of electron-electron interaction on classical mesoscopic phenomena in semiconductor devices, as manifested by the well-known phonon conductivity oscillations in tunnel junctions. The central idea is the realization that the temperature dependence of the oscillation amplitude contains a direct and unambiguous information about the rate of electron-electron scattering in the material studied. Quantitative theory to be developed and device modeling based on this theory should enable a unique characterization of electron-electron interaction, extracting parameters relevant to the operation of important semiconductor devices.