Electrical properties of three-terminal ballistic junctions

Abstract

Based on the ballistic nature of electron transport, exploitable nonlinear transport phenomena are predicted for three-terminal ballistic junctions (TBJs). For a symmetric TBJ, it is shown that when finite voltages Vl and Vr are applied in push-pull fashion, with Vl=V and Vr=−V, to the left and right branches, the voltage output Vc from the central branch will always be negative. This characteristic appears even when the device symmetry is broken, provided that |V| is greater than a certain threshold. It is also shown that the TBJs exhibit parabolic behavior for Vc vs V, in the weak nonlinear response regime. Potential applications of these devices in nanoelectronics are discussed.