Spring 2004

Please Note: A newer version of this course is now available and we would greatly appreciate your feedback regarding the new format and contents.

Course Information Website

The development of "nanotechnology" has made it possible to engineer materials and devices on a length scale as small as several nanometers (atomic distances are ~ 0.1 nm). The properties of such "nanostructures" cannot be described in terms of macroscopic parameters like mobility and diffusion coefficient and a microscopic or atomistic viewpoint is called for. The purpose of this course is to convey the conceptual framework that underlies this microscopic theory of matter which developed in course of the 20th century following the advent of quantum mechanics. However, this requires us to discuss a lot more than just quantum mechanics - it requires an appreciation of some of the most advanced concepts of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Traditionally these topics are spread out over many physics/ chemistry courses that take many semesters to cover. Our aim is to condense the essential concepts into a one semester course using electrical engineering related examples. The only background we assume is matrix algebra including familiarity with MATLAB (or an equivalent mathematical software package). We use MATLAB-based numerical examples to provide concrete illustrations and we strongly recommend that the students set up their own computer program on a PC to reproduce the results. This hands-on experience is needed to grasp such deep and diverse concepts in so short a time.

Questions and Answers: We are introducing a questions and answers page for this course. Questions along with answers for specific lectures can be found here.

Text Book: The text book for this course, Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor is available from Cambridge University Press.

Credits: The lecture notes have been prepared by Kirk Bevan and Behtash Behinaein (with editing by Desireé Skaggs) from Prof. Datta's regular classroom lectures. The Breeze lectures were prepared by Joe Cychosz and Mike Skaggs.

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  Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor

  by Supriyo Datta (Cambridge - July 11, 2005)

  This book presents a unique approach to the fundamentals of quantum transport, and is aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students. Some of the most advanced concepts of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics are included and yet no prior acquaintance with quantum mechanics is assumed.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Supriyo Datta (2006), "Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor (Spring 2004)," https://nanohub.org/resources/1490.

1. carbon nanotubes
2. education/outreach
3. material science
4. molecular electronics
5. nanoelectronics
6. nanotransistors
7. NEGF
8. quantum dots
9. quantum transport
10. spintronics