Effect of frequency dependent electron-electron interaction on resonant tunneling

In electron resonant tunneling through a double barrier structure, we show that dynamical electron-electron interactions in the resonant well can give rise to additional tunneling satellites due to collective electronic excitations. We present a first principle treatment for frequency-dependent electron-electron interactions in the resonant tunneling problem. The result confirms the previously proposed plasmon assisted resonant tunneling mechanism. We also find that the particle-hole excitation has very little effect on resonant tunneling. Our result can be applied to study the effects of various electronic excitations on the resonant tunneling of electrons.     

Level width of a quasibound state in a double-barrier parabolic-well resonant tunneling structure

Taking exact Airy functions and Hermitian functions as envelope functions, we investigate in detail the level width of a quasibound state for electrons coherent resonant tunneling through symmetric and asymmetric double-barrier parabolic-well resonant tunneling structures (DBRT) with the transfer-matrix formalism. It is found that for the symmetric structure and the asymmetric structure with left barrier thicker than the right one, both the level width and the peak value vary monotonously with increasing applied bias, but for the asymmetric DBRT structure with left barrier thinner than the right one, they change nonmonotonously. The nonmonotonous variations of the level width and the peak value reflect the transition of tunneling type (i.e. first from incompletely resonant tunneling to completely resonant tunneling, and then from completely resonant tunneling back to incompletely resonant tunneling). The effects of well width, barrier thickness and barrier height on the level width and the peak value are also inspected.     

Resonant tunneling through double-barrier structures on graphene

Quantum resonant tunneling behaviors of double-barrier structures on graphene are investigated under the tightbinding approximation. The Klein tunneling and resonant tunneling are demonstrated for the quasiparticles with energy close to the Dirac points. The Klein tunneling vanishes by increasing the height of the potential barriers to more than 300 meV. The Dirac transport properties continuously change to the Schro¨dinger ones. It is found that the peaks of resonant tunneling approximate to the eigen-levels of graphene nanoribbons under appropriate boundary conditions. A comparison between the zigzag- and armchair-edge barriers is given.     

半导体量子器件物理讲座第四讲 共振隧穿器件及其电路应用

当一个电子的能量低于势垒高度时,它仍可以隧穿通过势垒,在一定条件下,双势垒结构中电子的隧穿几率甚至可以接近1,利用这种共振隧穿现象可以做成共振隧穿二极管,它的电流－电压特性曲线中会出现负微分电阻,利用这种负阻效应可以做成高频振荡器和倍频器等电子器件,双势垒结构与通常的双极晶体管结合可以做成共振隧穿双极晶体管,它们可以用来做成多态记忆器和模数转换器等器件。     

Experimental analysis of resonant tunneling transit time using high-frequency characteristics of resonant tunneling transistors

We systematically estimate the resonant tunneling transit time from the high-frequency characteristics of resonant tunneling transistors. It is found that the transit time across an InGaAs/InAlAs resonant tunneling structure is more than one order of magnitude shorter than that for GaAs/AlAs with the same barrier layer thickness. In addition, the obtained times agree reasonably well with calculated phase time. It is probably the elastic resonance width and not the inelastic scattering effect that mainly determines the resonant tunneling transit time.     

Evidence of the enhanced resonant tunneling effect in a triple-barrier heterostructure

The effect of properly lined-up quantum-well (QW) states, under an external bias, on the electron resonant tunneling is investigated in an InAlAs/InGaAs triple-barrier structure. The degree of alignment of two QW confined ground states at a resonant voltage is analyzed with low-temperature measurement. The experimental data shows the enhanced resonant tunneling effects, and proves that the second QW structure added to the InGaAs/ InAlAs double-barrier heterostructure can act as an effective tool for probing and extracting the resonant tunneling properties deep in a QW.     

Gate-tunable valley-filter based on suspended graphene with double magnetic barrier structures

We theoretically investigate the effects of strain-induced pseudomagnetic fields on the transmission probability and the ballistic conductance for Dirac fermion transport in suspended graphene. We show that resonant tunneling through double magnetic barriers can be tuned by strain in the suspended region. The valley-resolved transmission peaks are apparently distinguishable owing to the sharpness of the resonant tunneling. With the specific strain, the resonant tunneling is completely suppressed for Dirac fermions occupying the one valley, but the resonant tunneling exists for the other valley. The valley-filtering effect is expected to be measurable by strain engineering. The proposed system can be used to fabricate a graphene valley filter with the large valley polarization almost 100%.     

Resonant tunneling in frustrated total internal reflection

Anomalous light transmission and resonant tunneling in frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) are theoretically predicted to occur at periodically curved interfaces. For a low-contrast index and for grazing incidence, it is shown that FTIR resonant tunneling provides an optical realization of field-induced barrier transparency in quantum tunneling.     

Resonant tunneling and enhanced Goos–Hänchen shift in a graphene double velocity barrier structure

Resonant transmission and Goos–Hänchen (GH) shift for Dirac fermion beams tunneling through graphene double velocity barrier structures (DVBs) are investigated theoretically. Analytical and numerical results demonstrate that strong resonant tunneling effect occurs in this structure and is highly dependent on the incident angle and the structure of velocity barriers. The resonant tunneling in graphene DVBs belongs to the Fabry–Pérot resonance and leads to oscillated conduction at wide energy range. It is also found that GH shifts in this structure can be enhanced by the resonant tunneling and multi-GH shift peaks with giant magnitudes can occur at these resonant energy positions. These special properties of GH shifts in graphene DVBs may have good application in lateral manipulation of electron beams and valley or spin beam splitter.     

Investigation on tunneling in optoelectronic devices with consideration of subwaves

Since novel optoelectronic devices based on the peculiar behaviors of the tunneling probability, e.g., resonant tunneling devices (RTD) and band-pass filter, are steadily proposed, the analytic transfer matrix (ATM) method is extended to study these devices. For several examples, we explore the effect of the scattered subwaves on tunneling; it is shown that the resonant or band-pass structures in tunneling probability are determined by the phase shift results from the scattered subwaves.     

Properties of monolithic integration of a resonant tunneling diode and a quantum well laser

An investigation of the electrical and optical characteristics of a resonant tunneling diode monolithically integrated with a quantum well laser is carried out. An analytic expression for the propagating model current is given in terms of the total spontaneous emission rate. The laser is pumped by the current emitted by the resonant tunneling diode. When the current in the laser exceeds the threshold current, laser light is produced. Since the current in the laser exhibits negative differential resistance similar in behavior to the current of a resonant tunneling diode, a bistable light output can be obtained from this new device.     

Inelastic resonant tunneling

A general expression for the resonant contribution to a tunneling current has been obtained and analyzed in the tunneling Hamiltonian approximation. Two types of resonant tunneling structures are considered: structures with a random impurity distribution and double-barrier structures, where the resonant level results from size quantization. The effect of temperature on the current-voltage curves of tunneling structures is discussed. The study of the effect of potential barrier profile on the d ² I/dV ² line shape is of interest for experiments in inelastic tunneling spectroscopy. Various experimental situations where the inelastic component of the tunneling current can become comparable to the elastic one are discussed. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1151–1155 (June 1998)     

Terahertz oscillations in semiconducting carbon nanotube resonant-tunneling diodes

The paper presents the simulation and possible physical implementation of a resonant tunneling diode based on a semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube, which exceeds the performance of similar resonant tunneling devices based on semiconductor heterostructures. In this respect, the oscillation frequency and the output power are predicted to be greater by one order of magnitude, attaining 16 THz and 2.5 μW, respectively. The generated THz signal is directly radiated into free-space through the injection contacts of the resonant tunneling diode, which have the shape of a bowtie antenna.     

Theoretical aspects of electron transport in modulated structures

In the theory of transport in modulated structures we have studied both transport perpendicular and parallel to the heterojunction interfaces. In perpendicular transport we have investigated models for tunneling through double barriers and find that resonant tunneling and sequential tunneling lead to the same expression for the current as long as the width of the energy distribution of the injected electrons is larger than the width of the resonant level in the diode. We present results for phonon assisted tunneling between two wells in a model which remains valid even when the barrier shrinks and the tunneling probability becomes very high. In parallel transport we show that very satisfactory agreement with extensive measurements of the mobility in modulation doped structures in the whole temperature range from 4 K to 300 K can be obtained if one takes into account the complete quasi-two-dimensional subband structure and all the relevant scattering mechanisms. Having established this we apply this program to systems with more complicated double channel structures, and show how one can tailor the conductivity of a channel in which perpendicular resonant tunneling affects parallel transport.     

Resonant tunneling single electron transistors

We use a modulation-doped double barrier heterostructure to fabricate a resonant tunneling single electron transistor. Irregular Coulomb blockade oscillations are observed when the gate voltage is swept to vary one-by-one the number of electrons in the dot close to 'pinch-off'. The oscillation period is not regular, and generally becomes longer as the electron number is decreased down to zero, reflecting the growing importance of electron-electron interactions and size quantization. Negative differential resistance associated with resonant tunneling through zero-dimensional states is pronounced for a dot holding just a few electrons. The temperature dependence of the Coulomb blockade oscillations and that for the negative differential resistance are not the same. This highlights the different effects of charging and resonant tunneling on the transport characteristics.     

Intradot spin-flip Andreev reflection tunneling through a ferromagnet-quantum dot-superconductor system with ac field

We investigate Andreev reflection (AR) tunneling through a ferromagnet-quantum dot-superconductor (F-QD-S) system in the presence of an external ac field. The intradot spin-flip scattering in the QD is involved. Using the nonequilibrium Green function and BCS quasiparticle spectrum for superconductor, time-averaged AR conductance is formulated. The competition between the intradot spin-flip scattering and photon-assisted tunneling dominates the resonant behaviors of the time-averaged AR conductance. For weak intradot spin-flip scattering strengths, the AR conductance shows a series of equal interval resonant levels. However, the single-peak at main resonant level develops into a well-resolved double-peak resonance at a strong intradot spin-flip scattering strength. Remarkable, multiple-photon-assisted tunneling that generates photonic sideband peaks with a variable interval has been found. In addition, the AR conductance-bias voltage characteristic shows a transition between the single-peak to double-peak resonance as the ratio of the two tunneling strengths varies.     

RESONANT TUNNELING THROUGH COUPLED DOUBLE-QUANTUM-WELL

A double-well resonant tunneling structure has been investigated carefully using the nonequilibrium Green's function method. We find that in the transmission probability two maxima appear even when the two levels have the same energy. This characteristic is at-tributed to the resonant tunneliug through mixed quasibound states. The tunneling current formula through this system under a dc voltage has been derived exactly. Three different cases are considered and several novel properties are found, which manifest coherent charac-teristics of the tunneling process.     

Current bistability in resonant tunneling through a semiconductor quantum dot

We discuss resonant tunneling through quantum dot energy levels considering the charging energy of the dot. The hamiltonian of the system is reduced to a form of the Anderson hamiltonian of resonant tunneling. The mean-field approximation is applied and current–voltage characteristics are evaluated. The self-consistent solution is investigated for the low tunneling rate case in the low-temperature condition. The current bistability and the related current hysteresis are pointed out. The Coulomb staircase is shown in the current–voltage characteristics. These features are all due to Coulomb repulsion within the dot.     

Quantum box resonant tunneling spectroscopy: Experiments and modelisation

We have calculated the potential profile and the electronic levels in resonant tunneling double barrier structures with nanometric lateral dimensions (≤ 500 nm) for various contact doping. At biases for which the box states (laterally confined quantum well) are resonant with the emitter Fermi level, fine structures are expected in the resonant tunneling current. Comparison with I(V) characteristics measured on nanometric GaAs/GaAlAs and GaAs/GaAlAs/InGaAs resonant tunneling diodes shows that our model accounts for the resonance bias voltage and explains the shape of the current peak. The fine structure observed in the current peak provides a spectroscopy of the confined states in the quantum box.