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.     

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。     

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.     

Diamond Schottky Contact Transit-time Diode for Terahertz Power Generation

A diamond mixed tunneling and avalanche transit-time diode is designed in this letter. Schottky contact is used in this kind of diode to reduce the contact resistance. Electrical characteristics of n-type diamond Schottky contact have been accurately investigated. Total output power of such transit-time diode is evaluated using an accurate large-signal model. The results indicate that the new type transit-time diode can operate with the frequency up to several terahertzes. The output power density is more than 1.185 MW/cm² from 1.07 to 2.12THz. About 17% improvement in efficiency is found at 2.12THz.     

表面波振荡0.22 THz大功率太赫兹源设计

为研制大功率紧凑型太赫兹源,开展了0.22 THz大功率太赫兹源的理论设计研究。THz源采用表面波振荡器结构。重点研究了慢波结构对太赫兹源产生信号的影响,并对慢波结构进行了优化。结合二极管参数的选取,对该源结构进行了粒子模拟,结果表明:在馈入电压200 kV,电流2900 A的条件下,输出信号频率为0.22 THz,输出功率为19.5 MW,效率约为3.3%。     

Rectification mechanism in diblock oligomer molecular diodes

We investigated a mechanism of rectification in diblock oligomer diode molecules that have recently been synthesized and showed a pronounced asymmetry in the measured I-V spectrum. The observed rectification effect is due to the resonant nature of electron transfer in the system and the localization properties of bound state wave functions of resonant states of the tunneling electron interacting with an asymmetric molecule in an electric field. The asymmetry of the tunneling wave function is enhanced or weakened depending on the polarity of the applied bias. The conceptually new theoretical approach, the Green's function theory of sub-barrier scattering, is able to provide a physically transparent explanation of this rectification effect based on the concept of the bound state spectrum of a tunneling electron. The theory predicts the characteristic features of the I-V spectrum in qualitative agreement with experiment.     

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.     

Electromagnetic properties of the graphene junctions

The directional diagram of the charge transport through a 'clean' and short monolayer graphene junction GJ exposed to an external electromagnetic field had been examined. We find that the photon-assisted resonant chiral tunneling across the monolayer graphene junction (GJ) causes an angular redistribution of the tunneling current density. The directional a.c. transport phenomena may be utilized in novel nanoelectronic devices working in the THz frequency range.     

通过纳米硅中量子点的共振隧穿

用纳米硅(nc-Si∶H)薄膜制成了隧道二极管，并在其I-V曲线上发现了不连续的量子化台阶.二极管的I-V曲线可分成二部分：(1)0—7V，电流随外加电压增大而增大；(2)7—9V，电流随外加电压急剧增大并出现三个量子化台阶.量子化台阶的出现直接与纳米硅中的晶粒有关，根据nc-Si∶H的独特结构，对载流子的传导通道进行了讨论；用通过nc-Si∶H中量子点的共振隧穿对I-V曲线进行了初步解释. 关键词：     

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.     

GaMnN铁磁共振隧穿二极管自旋电流输运以及极化效应的影响

通过理论计算研究GaMnN铁磁共振隧穿二极管自旋电流输运特性.理论结果表明在电流特性曲线上出现两个明显的自旋分裂峰.该电流自旋分裂峰和相应的自旋极化随温度的升高而逐渐减小消失.当进一步考虑到GaN异质结界面极化电荷影响时,自旋向下的电流共振峰得到明显增强,同时电流的自旋极化也得到相应的提高.在一定的极化电荷条件下,可以获得较高的自旋极化电流. 关键词： GaMnN 共振隧穿 自旋电流 极化电荷     

Magnetotunneling spectroscopy of polarons in a quantum well of a resonant-tunneling diode

Resonant tunneling of electrons is thoroughly studied in in-plane magnetic fields. Anticrossing is revealed in a spectrum of two-dimensional electrons at energies of optical phonons. The magnetic field changes the momentum of tunneling electrons and causes a voltage shift of a resonance in the tunnel spectra in accordance with the electron dispersion curve. Anticrossing is clearly observed in second derivative current-voltage characteristics of a resonant tunneling diode made of a double-barrier Al_0.4Ga_0.6As/GaAs heterostructure.     

The I-V characteristics of double barrier stair-wells

We investigated the I-V characteristics of the double barrier stair-well structure. Resonant tunneling current is achieved by application of an electric field, which increases the transmission under positive bias and decreases it under the reverse bias. This asymmetry can be used for rectification and the device works as a quantum diode. Furthermore, the same structure can perform, under negative bias, resonant tunneling processes with different characteristics.     

InAs量子点在肖特基势垒二极管输运特性中的影响

在77到292K的范围内,系统研究了含InAs自组装量子点的金属-半导体-金属双肖特基势垒二极管的输运特性.随着温度上升,量子点的存储效应引起的电流回路逐渐减小.在测试温度范围内,通过量子点的共振隧穿过程在电流电压(I-V)曲线中造成台阶结构,且使电流回路随温度的上升急剧减小.根据肖特基势垒的反向I-V曲线,计算了势垒的反向饱和电流密度和平均理想因子.发现共振随穿效应使肖特基势垒在更大的程度上偏离了理想情况,而量子点的电子存储效应主要改变了肖特基势垒的有效势垒高度,从而影响了势垒的反向饱和电流密度 关键词： 自组装量子点 肖特基势垒 电流-电压特性     

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.     

Terahertz surface-wave resonant sensor with a metal hole array

A surface-wave sensor based on the resonant transmission characteristics of metal hole arrays is demonstrated in the terahertz (THz) region. Since the frequency of the transmission peak of a metal hole array, which corresponds to the resonant frequency of the surface waves, is particularly sensitive to the refractive index in the vicinity of the metal surface, a very small change in the substances attached to the surface can be detected by monitoring the transmission spectrum. By attaching a layer of substance (thickness t < 5 microm) much thinner than the wavelength of the THz wave (lambda(THz) = 1 mm at 0.3 THz) to the surface of a metal hole array, we demonstrated that the existence of such a small amount of substance can be detected more easily than without the metal hole array. This demonstration of THz sensing with metal hole arrays indicates the possibility of realizing THz surface-wave sensors for biochemical molecules in the THz region.     

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.     

Stochastic induced dynamics in neuromorphic optoelectronic oscillators

We investigate the dynamics of optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) systems based on resonant tunneling diode photodetector (RTD-PD) and laser diode hybrid integrated circuits. We demonstrate that RTD-based OEOs can be noise-activated in either monostable or bistable operating conditions, providing a rich variety of signal outputs—spiking, square pulses, bursting—and behaviours—stochastic and coherence resonances—that are similar to that of biological systems such as neurons. The potential for fully monolithic integration of our OEO confers them a great potential in novel neuromorphic optoelectronic circuits for signal processing tasks including re-timing and re-shaping of pulsed signals exploiting either the monostable or the bistable operating conditions.     

Polarization-independent broadband terahertz chiral metamaterials on flexible substrate

A THz band-reject filter is designed based on chiral four-fold rotational symmetry metamaterial. This filter was fabricated by laser micro-lens array lithography and characterized by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The resonant frequencies at different twist angles are almost the same, which demonstrates the polarization independence of the structure. The electric field distribution is simulated to explain the physics mechanism behind the polarization independence. By stacking multiple metamaterial layers together, a THz broadband reject filter at a bandwidth of 0.461 THz is experimentally achieved.