Heat Exchange With Interband Tunneling

The carrier transport associated with interband tunneling in semiconductors has been investigated extensively both experimentally and theoretically. However, the associated heat exchange from interband tunneling is not discussed in depth. Due to the nanoscale nature of the tunneling phenomenon, people tend to use a "resistor model" to compute the heat generated. We present our analysis of heat exchange in tunneling junctions based on an extended Kane's model. We observe that the heat exchange is distinct when we apply forward bias, small reverse bias, and large reverse bias. In each of these bias regimes, we demonstrate that the internal temperature distribution of a tunneling junction can deviate from the simplified "resistor model" significantly. Published under license by AIP Publishing.