Plasmon Resonance Effects in GaAs/AlGaAs Heterojunction Devices: An Analysis Based on Spectral Element Simulation

The effect of surface plasmons is investigated in III-V devices that incorporate a subsurface heterojunction to guide electron transport, in a structure analogous to that of the high-electron mobility transistor. The use of the spectral element method results in a highly efficient computational approach; perturbations in the electric potential resulting from surface plasmonic effects are included in a self-consistent solution of the Schrödinger-Poisson equations. The results of calculations of electron conduction band edge and electron density distribution are presented, and the effect of the plasmonic penetration depth on electron density distribution in the 2-D electron gas at the heterojunction is studied. This approach has broad applicability in the design and simulation of III-V optoelectronic sensors and transducers used for physiochemical and biological sensing and imaging.