Statistics of electron emission from InAs/GaAs quantum dots

A theoretical treatment for thermal and tunneling emission of electrons from InAs/GaAs quantum dots is performed to achieve “effective emission rates” corresponding to experimentally obtained quantities. From these results, Arrhenius graphs are calculated using parameter values for quantum dots with 20/10 nm base/height dimension. Emission from the electron s shell as direct transitions, as two-step transitions from the s to the p shell, as thermal transitions from s to p followed by tunneling and as direct tunneling from the s and the p shell to the GaAs conduction band is taken into account. Due to the varying emission possibilities, Arrhenius graphs appear with complicated shapes depending on quantities originating from structural and electronic properties of the quantum dots.