Scattering Suppression and High-Mobility Effect of Size-Quantized Electrons in Ultrafine Semiconductor Wire Structures

Transport properties of electrons confined in ultrafine wire structures are studied theoretically. The scattering probability of such size-quantized electrons is calculated for Coulomb potential and is shown to be suppressed drastically because of the one-dimensional nature of the electronic motion in the wire. Mobilities are estimated to be well beyond 106 cm2/Vs for a properly-designed GaAs wire at low temperatures. The feasibility of preparing such ultrafine structures with and without ultrafine lithography is discussed.