AQUILA is a Matlab toolbox for the simulation of the electronic properties of low dimensional GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures in one or two dimensions. The history of this software goes back to the year 2000 when I wrote it as a "spin-off" of my PhD work. The motivation originally was just the lack of similar simulation tools which made it necessary for me to write my own simulation tool just as a "quick-hack" to complete my thesis. Despite of this poor motivation AQUILA has gained some interest by the community in the following years. It is published in the MatlabCentral archive and despite of its age and the rather special topic it deals with it still has a considerable number of downloads per month.
Some features are
- Self-consistent solution of the Schödinger- and Poisson equation
- Calculation in one or two dimensions using box integration technique
- User-defined sample structure with adjustable meshing
- Efficient solution of the partial differential equations by automatic selection from different numerical solution strategies
- Built-in database of GaAs/AlGaAs material properties
- User-definable visualization of the calculation progress
- Many built-in functions for typical postprocessing tasks (band struktures, wavefunctions and energy levels, Fermi level, local carrier densities, etc.)
- Easy to use and easy to configure
- Open system with powerful toolbox functions
- Comes with documentation and examples
- Open source software subject to the BSD-License
Here are some screenshots demonstrating a subset of the capabilities of the software.
The software is subject to the BSD-License:
Copyright (c) 1999-2016, Dr. Martin Rother
All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
- Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
- Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Please note the exclusion of warranty and the limitation of liability described therein. Readers subject to German law may also have a look at the Disclaimer/Impressum.
Here you can download the software. Please note that you will need a working Matlab environment to actually run the software. If you don't have one you will just be able to read the source code.