Efficient quantum transport simulations in nanodevices using multi-band discontinuous Galerkin methods

Abstract As interest in advanced nanodevices grows, incorporating interband coupling effects becomes crucial for obtaining accurate and physically meaningful results when analyzing transport phenomena. This study presents a novel approach that combines the multi-band envelope function model with the discontinuous Galerkin method, resulting in an efficient algorithm tailored for simulating interband kinetics. Our method achieves a relative $$L^\infty$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>L</mml:mi> <mml:mi>∞</mml:mi> </mml:msup> </mml:math> error that is $$40\;$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>40</mml:mn> <mml:mspace/> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> % lower than traditional finite difference schemes while maintaining comparable runtime. Furthermore, numerical experiments confirm the improved convergence behavior of the proposed algorithm, particularly for simulations of resonant interband tunneling diodes.