Prospects for real power sources based on quantum mechanics

The work described here shows that multi-barrier tunnelling structures have features that suggest that they should be seriously considered for use as power sources in the range 300 GHz to 2 THz. Current MBE techniques can achieve the requirements for uniformity in electron energy within a quantum well on both small and large distance scales. The most important remaining problem in MBE growth seems to be short term fluctuations in the growth rates. Now that the time scale of this major problem has been identified there is a reasonable prospect of identifying its cause and eliminating the problem