The role of emitter quasi-bound state and scattering on intrinsic bistability in resonant tunneling diodes

Usually, numerical self-consistent calculations predict a much larger intrinsic bistability region than actually is measured in resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs). In addition, numerical calculations have shown that scattering in the well reduces bistability. We used a unified treatment of current flowing from continuum states and emitter quasi-bound states to show numerically and analytically that not only the scattering in the quantum well but also the scattering in the emitter reduces bistability. Moreover, within the Hartree approximation, bistability occurs by tunneling resonantly between emitter quasi-bound state and well quasi-bound state as a pitchfork bifurcation.     

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.     

Subband current in resonant tunneling diode

An accumulation layer is formed on the emitter side of a biased resonant tunneling diode (RTD) leading to a similar subband structure as in the ordinary MOS-system. Electrons occupying the subbands can tunnel through the RTD-structure and give rise to a significant contribution to the diode current. We calculate the subband current from our semiclassical transport model developed earlier for the ordinary tunneling current. The model includes quantum interference and bulk scattering by utilizing an optical approximation for the coherent part of the wave function. The subband current turns out to be of the same order of magnitude as the ordinary tunneling current component. It is shifted to higher voltages and therefore it increases the valley current. In order to reduce the subband current and improve the peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR), we propose a novel RTD-structure with a grading in front of the emitter barrier. The purpose of the grading is to suppress the formation of the accumulation layer and thereby decrease the valley current. Calculations show that PVCR increases by a factor of two using a proper design of the grading.     

Spin-dependent current in resonant tunneling diode with ferromagnetic GaMnN layers

The spin-polarized tunneling current through a double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) with ferromagnetic GaMnN emitter/collector is investigated theoretically. Two distinct spin splitting peaks can be observed at current-voltage (I-V) characteristics at low temperature. The spin polarization decreases with the temperature due to the thermal effect of electron density of states. When charge polarization effect is considered at the heterostructure, the spin polarization is enhanced significantly. A highly spin-polarized current can be obtained depending on the polarization charge density.     

Room-temperature observation of current bistability and fine structures in germanium quantum dots/SiO2 resonant tunneling diodes

The steady-state and time-dependent current–voltage (I–V) characteristics are experimentally investigated in Ge quantum dot (QD)/SiO₂ resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs). Ge QDs embedded in a SiO₂ matrix are naturally formed by thermal oxidation of Si_0.9Ge_0.1 nanowires (30 nm×50 nm) on silicon-on-insulator substrates. The average dot size and spacing between dots are 9±1 and 25 nm, respectively, from TEM observations, which indicate that one or two QDs are embedded between SiO₂ tunneling barriers within the nanowires. Room-temperature resonant oscillation, negative differential conductance, bistability, and fine structures are observed in the steady-state tunneling current of Ge-QD/SiO₂ RTDs under light illumination. Time-dependent tunneling current characteristics display periodic seesaw features as the Ge-QDs RTD is biased within the voltage regime of the first resonance peak while they exhibit harmonic swing behaviors as the RTD is biased at the current valleys or higher-order current peaks. This possibly originates from the interplay of the random telegraph signals from traps at the QD/SiO₂ interface as well as the electron wave interference within a small QD due to substantial quantum mechanics effects.     

Observation of the current－voltage plateau-like structure of resonant tunnelling diode with prewells under different magnetic fields

We have grown resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs) with different sized emitter prewells and without a prewell. The current－voltage (I－V) characteristics of them in different magnetic fields were investigated. Two important phenomena were observed. First, a high magnetic field can destroy the plateau-like structure in the I－V curves of the RTD. This phenomenon is ascribed to the fact that the high magnetic field will demolish the coupling between the energy level in the main quantum well and that in the emitter quantum well or in the prewell. Secondly, the existence and size of the prewell are also important factors influencing the plateau-like structure.     

Nonlinear resonant tunneling diode (RTD) circuits for microwave A/D conversion

Short-duration electrical pulses play important roles in ultrafast time-domain metrology: they are used to sample rapidly varying signals or as probe signals in ranging radars, time-domain reflectometry and in communication. In this work, we design a nonlinear transmission, which is loaded with resonant tunneling diode to be suitable for microwave A/D conversion. A resonant tunneling diode (RTD) has a negative differential resistance that means when the voltage increases the current decreases. The equivalent circuit of monostable line is given. The simulation is performed by using OrCad program. Results show that a spike is produced and after a charging time constant, another switching occurs. Hence – similar to a relaxation oscillator – the spiking period is determined by the amplitude and frequency of the input current. The transmission line itself ensures the generation and propagation of identical spikes, such as solitons formed after few diodes.     

Spin-polarized current produced by a double barrier resonant tunneling diode

The spin-polarized tunneling current through a double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) made with a semimagnetic semiconductor is studied theoretically. The calculated spin-polarized current and polarization degree are in agreement with recent experimental results. It is predicted that the polarization degree can be modulated continuously from +1 to −1 by changing the external voltage such that the quasi-confined spin-up and spin-down energy levels shift downwards from the Fermi level to the bottom of the conduction band. The RTD with low potential barrier or the tunneling through the second quasi-confined state produces larger spin-polarized current. Furthermore a higher magnetic field enhances the polarization degree of the tunneling current.     

Modelling of the influence of interelectronic interaction on the stationary characteristics of a resonant tunnel diode with spacer layers

The influence of the interelectronic interaction on the stationary characteristics of a resonant tunnel diode (RTD) with spacer layers (spacers) is investigated by means of a self-consistent solution to Schr?dinger and Poisson equations. It is demonstrated that the interelectronic interaction influences significantly the RTD voltampere characteristics, in particular, it decreases the peak current density and displaces the position of maxima of the peak current dependence on the emitter spacer size. It is also demonstrated that the hysteresis of the RTD volt-ampere characteristics vanishes for definite spacer sizes.     

The photocurrent of resonant tunneling diode controlled by the charging effects of quantum dots

We experimentally studied the photocurrent of AlAs/GaAs/AlAs double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD), which is composed of an InAs layer of self-assembled quantum-dots on top of AlAs barrier layer. It is found that the charging InAs quantum dots can effectively modulate the carrier transport properties of the RTD. Moreover, we also found that the resonant tunneling current through a single energy level of an individual quantum dot is extremely sensitive to the photo-excited holes bound nearby the dot, and the presence of the holes lowers the electrostatic energy of the quantum dot state. In addition, it is also observed that the photocurrent behaves like step way with the individual photon pulse excitation when the illumination is low enough. The experiment results well demonstrated the quantum amplified characteristics of the device.     

Resonant tunneling of interacting electrons in an AC electric field

The problem of the effect of electron-electron interaction on the static and dynamic properties of a double-barrier nanostructure (resonant tunneling diode (RTD)) is studied in terms of a coherent tunneling model, which includes a set of Schrödinger and Poisson equations with open boundary conditions. Explicit analytical expressions are derived for dc and ac potentials and reduced (active and reactive) currents in the quasi-classical approximation over a wide frequency range. These expressions are used to analyze the frequency characteristics of RTD. It is shown that the interaction can radically change the form of these expressions, especially in the case of a hysteretic I-V characteristic. In this case, the active current and the ac potentials can increase sharply at both low and high frequencies. For this increase to occur, it is necessary to meet quantum regime conditions and to choose a proper working point in the I-V characteristic of RTD. The possibility of appearance of specific plasma oscillations, which can improve the high-frequency characteristics of RTD, is predicted. It is found that the active current can be comparable with the resonant dc current of RTD.     

Effects of intersubband interaction on multisubband electron transport in single and double quantum wells

The multisubband electron transport properties are studied for doped single quantum well and gated double asymmetric quantum well structures. The effects due to intersubband interaction and screening of the ionized impurity scattering are also investigated. We show that intersubband coupling plays an essential role in describing the screening properties as well as the effect of ionized impurity scattering on the mobility in a doped single quantum well. For coupled double quantum well structures, negative transconductance is found theoretically which is due to resonant tunneling between the two quantum wells.     

Intersubband photocurrent from double barrier resonant tunneling structures

Simple models of semiconductor-based double barrier resonant tunneling structures predict a large accumulation of charge carriers in the structure. These carriers can be excited optically from one subband to another generating photocurrent. In this work we have investigated the photo-induced current due to intersubband excitation in double barrier structures. We have found that the origin of the photocurrent is accumulation of quantized carriers in the emitter-barrier junction of the structure, rather than accumulation of carriers in the double barrier quantum well. This photon assisted tunneling process in double barrier structures may be used for infrared detection.     

Magneto-tunneling spectroscopy of GaAs---AlGaAs double barrier tunneling devices in pulsed high magnetic fields up to 40T

The magneto-tunneling effect was investigated in GaAs---AlGaAs double barrier resonant tunneling devices in pulsed high magnetic fiels up to 40T applied parallel(B) and perpendicular (B) to the barrier layers. In a sample with , oscillatory structures due to the 2D electrons in the emitter and the LO phonon assisted resonant tunneling were observed when the magnetic field (B) was swept at constant bias voltages. A large drop of the current was found in the quantum limit at applied voltages below the negative differential conductivity region. A striking hysteresis was observed in the voltage-current (V - I) curves. In a wide well sample with , rich structures were observed in the V - I curve for B, corresponding to the tunneling to different cyclotron orbits from the emitter.     

Intersubband transition in quantum wells and triple-barrier diode infrared detector concepts

We present effective mass theory results for intersubband transition energies, oscillator strengths, and other quantities which are relevant to the design of quantum well devices. Results are presented in the form of contour plots for easy reference. Theory gives good agreement with existing experimental data by various research groups. In addition, a new quantum well infrared detector is proposed, which employs resonant tunneling in a triple-barrier diode. The device has a narrow bandwidth controlled by the resonance width and a very low dark current making high temperature (> 77 K) operation possible.     

Nonlinear transport in p-type SiGe quantum well structure containing Ge quantum dots

We use magneto-transport spectroscopy to study a dramatic instability between a low and high conductivity mode in Si/SiGe-based resonant tunneling diodes with an embedded layer of self-assembled Ge hut cluster quantum dots in the Si barrier. In the low current regime a simple activation-type behavior with an astonishingly low activation energy in the order of 0.1 meV is determined. In the high current regime a region of negative differential conduction can be observed. We discuss the influence of different layer structures and magnetic fields.     

Coupled electron-phonon modes in optically pumped resonant intersubband lasers

Intersubband lasing at 12-16 microm based on a CO2 laser pumped stimulated resonant Raman process in GaAs/AlGaAs three-level double-quantum-well structures is reported. The presence, or lack of, lasing action provides evidence for resonantly coupled modes of collective electronic intersubband transitions and longitudinal optical phonons. An anticrossing behavior of these modes is clearly seen when the difference between the pump and lasing energies (i.e., Stokes Raman shift) is compared with the subband separation. This work reveals the significance of the strong coupling between intersubband transitions and phonons and raises a new possibility of realizing a phonon "laser."     

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.     

Resonant tunneling of illuminated multi-insulator diodes

The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of two different Metal–Insulator–Metal (MIM) diodes with three insulator layers were calculated and compared. The effect of illumination, or the photon-assisted tunneling was considered with the Tien–Gordon model. Our calculations indicate that, by carefully designing the insulating layers of the MIM diodes, the resonant tunneling phenomena can be tuned effectively in the diodes with quantum well structures. The results also show that the minimum shift of the illuminated current depends not only on the intensity of the photons incident but also on the diode structures, or the parameters of the insulators and so on.     

Current rectification through a single-barrier resonant tunneling quantum structure

We propose a simple quantum structure which exhibits resonant tunneling under one bias and simple tunneling under the opposite one, thus acting as a rectifier. The diode consists of a single laterally-indented barrier. Due to its particular conduction-band profile, electrons undergo resonant tunneling when the bias creates a band-profile triangular well which can contain a resonant state aligned to the emitter Fermi energy. A diode with an active layer of ≈ 100Å, realized by AlGaAs/GaAs, has a Rectification Ratio, calculated at the current-peak bias at resonance, of ≈ 100. This value can be enhanced by putting in series several elements of this kind.