Quantum-size effects in quasi-one-dimensional electric conduction

The diffusive and collisional contributions to the dc-electric current along a quantum wire of width much smaller than the mean free path are evaluated at very low temperatures for impurity scattering using a quantum Boltzmann equation. The electrons are assumed to be independent or to interact (binary collisions) in the presence of impurities. The lateral confinement is modelled with a square or a parabolic well and the vertical one by a triangular well. Due to the confinement the electronic motion becomes quasi-one-dimension and changing the Fermi energy on the wire leads to oscillations in the density of states, the scattering rate and the conductivity. Level broadening is taken into account self-consistently.(A.C.A.S.)