Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mphil-in-micro-and-nanotechnology-enterprise-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/paper-2/section-b/21/i/solution

For parabolic bands, the density of states near a subband edge scales as , , and . Thus a quasi-1D wire has inverse-square-root singularities at successive transverse subband thresholds, a quasi-2D well has a staircase, and a bulk 3D band rises smoothly from zero. Each expression vanishes below its threshold.
Figure 1.
Parabolic-band density of states in one, two and three unconfined dimensions
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These sketches assume extended noninteracting states with simple quadratic dispersion. Finite temperature, disorder and finite lifetime broaden measured threshold features; the ideal singularity is integrable and does not represent infinitely many states in a finite energy interval.

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