Thermionic cooling devices based on resonant-tunneling AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure

Evaporative electron cooling in asymmetric double barrier semiconductor heterostructures

Rapid progress in high-speed, densely packed electronic/photonic devices has brought unprecedented benefits to our society. However, this technology trend has in reverse led to a tremendous increase in heat dissipation, which degrades device performance and lifetimes. The scientific and technological challenge henceforth lies in efficient cooling of such high-performance devices. Here, we report on evaporative electron cooling in asymmetric Aluminum Gallium Arsenide/Gallium Arsenide (AlGaAs/GaAs) double barrier heterostructures. Electron temperature, T_e, in the quantum well (QW) and that in the electrodes are determined from photoluminescence measurements. At 300 K, T_e in the QW is gradually decreased down to 250 K as the bias voltage is increased up to the maximum resonant tunneling condition, whereas T_e in the electrode remains unchanged. This behavior is explained in term of the evaporative cooling process and is quantitatively described by the quantum transport theory.

Designing efficient integrated cooling solutions by controlling heat management in nanodevices remains a challenge. Here, the authors propose evaporative electron cooling in the AlGaAs/GaAs double barrier heterostructures quantum well achieving up to 50 K electron temperature reduction at 300 K.