Extremely high current density, low peak voltage, pseudomorphic In_0.53Ga_0.47As/AlAs/InAs resonant tunneling diodes

摘要

A fundamental objective in the design of resonant tunneling diodesfor microwave oscillators and digital switching is the achievement ofthe highest possible peak current density at the lowest possible peakvoltage, while maintaining a high peak-to-valley current ratio and widevalley region. It is demonstrated that by combining very thin AlAsbarriers with relatively wide InAs wells, within bounding regions ofInGaAs lattice-matched to InP, it is possible to achieveroom-temperature peak current densities in excess of 450 kA/cm2, the highest ever reported for resonant tunneling diodes, at peakvoltages as low as 0.7 V. The corresponding peak-to-valley current ratiois approximately 3.6. By working within the InGaAlAs quaternary system,the device designer has a great deal of flexibility and latitude insculpturing the device structure to optimize a number of specificperformance characteristics