Abstract

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations offer an alternative approach to understanding vacuum nanoelectronics. Although MD is often computationally prohibitive compared to more traditional approaches, such as particle-in-cell or fluid based codes, this does not pose a problem in many nanoelectronics systems since the number of electrons that need to be included may be on the order of thousands or even less. MD is ideally suited to simulate the graininess of such systems with few electrons, as it can accurately model Rutherford scattering and many of the statistical aspects of emission physics. In this talk, some results of MD simulations of vacuum nanoelectronics will be presented, e.g. spontaneous bunching in microdiodes at THz frequency, field emission from limited area emitters, and field emission from a tip.

Biography:

Ágúst Valfells received the C.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iceland, and the Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan. For most of his professional career he has worked in academia, first at the University of Maryland, and since 2005 at Reykjavík University. His research interests are primarily in the areas of vacuum electronics and geothermal reservoir modelling.