Voltage-controlled three terminal GaAs negative differential resistance device using n/sup +/-i-p/sup +/-i-n/sup +/ structure

摘要

A novel three terminal GaAs n/sup +/-i-p/sup +/-i-n/sup +/ negative differential resistance device prepared by molecular beam epitaxy is demonstrated for the first time. The peak-to-valley current ratios can be modulated by the third external applied voltage which can be expressed as I/sub p//I/sub v/=5.08*10/sup -3/ exp (1.999 V/sub BE/) at room temperature, where V/sub BE/ is in volts. It implies that large peak-to-valley current ratios (e.g. I/sub P//I/sub V/=300 at V/sub BE/=5.5 V) and large peak current densities can easily be obtained just by increasing the V/sub BE/ bias. A phenomenological bipolar-unipolar transition model is proposed to interpret the observed behavior and confirmed by experiments.