Scattering rate via electron-acoustic phonon interaction in quantum wire

Using the continuum phonon model and effective-mass approximation, we have calculated the scattering rate via electron–acoustic phonon interaction in a quantum wire. Both taking and not taking into account electron effective-mass mismatch (EEMM), the scattering rates decrease with increasing electron energy. This is attributed to rapid decrease of the state density of the quantum wire. The rate for the case with EEMM is lower than that without EEMM, since EEMM can make the barrier drop along the growth direction. The scattering rate increases with increasing Al concentration, which is attributed to lower well height and smaller wave vector along the growth direction. The relative deviation of the scattering rates between the without and with EEMM cases decreases with increasing Al concentration because of the lowering of the effective-barrier height caused by EEMM. With increasing well width along the growth direction the scattering rate decreases, which is ascribed to the decrease of wave vector α along the z-axis, that is, weakening of the bounding for electron in the quantum well.