Numerical simulation of tunneling through arbitrary potential barriers applied on MIM and MIIM rectenna diodes
European Journal of Physics • 2018
Publication Information
Authors
Tarek, M. Abdolkader
Ahmed, Shaker
Tarek, M. Abdolkader; Ahmed, Shaker; A. N. M. Alahmadi
Keywords
finite difference method, transfer matrix method, transmission line method, tunneling, numerical simulation, rectenna solar cell, MIM and MIIM diodes
Journal
European Journal of Physics
Publisher
IOP publishing
Volume
39
Issue
4
Pages
045402
publication.type
International
Paper Link
Open Link
Supplementary Materials
Not Available
Abstract
With the continuous miniaturization of electronic devices, quantum-mechanical effects such as tunneling become more effective in many device applications. In this paper, a numerical simulation tool is developed under a MATLAB environment to calculate the tunneling probability and current through an arbitrary potential barrier comparing three different numerical techniques: the finite difference method, transfer matrix method, and transmission line method. For benchmarking, the tool is applied to many case studies such as the rectangular single barrier, rectangular double barrier, and continuous bell-shaped potential barrier, each compared to analytical solutions and giving the dependence of the error on the number of mesh points. In addition, a thorough study of the J − V characteristics of MIM and MIIM diodes, used as rectifiers for rectenna solar cells, is presented and simulations are compared to experimental results showing satisfactory agreement. On the undergraduate level, the tool provides a deeper insight for students to compare numerical techniques used to solve various tunneling problems and helps students to choose a suitable technique for a certain application.
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