Abstract
This chapter reviews some recent developments in our understanding of the physical properties of double barrier resonant tunnelling structures. Using the sequential theory of resonant tunnelling, the DC current-voltage characteristic of a double-barrier structure is calculated, taking into account the effect of space charge in the quantum well. A region of current bistability is found over a voltage range which is determined by the maximum space charge and the capacitance of the structure. Although there are good theoretical reasons to suggest that space charge build-up can cause intrinsic bistability, it is shown that the commonly observed bistability effect in the current-voltage characteristics of a typical resonant tunnelling device can be removed by connecting a suitable capacitance or resistance to the device. These measurements cast serious doubt on the recent observation and interpretation of a bistability in I(V) as an intrinsic space-charge effect. In the stabilised section of the I(V) curve, at voltages above the main resonant peak, the magnetoquantum oscillations observed with B| |J are used to investigate tunnelling assisted by LO phonon emission and by elastic scattering processes. Such processes have a deleterious effect on the peak/valley ratio which is commonly used as a figure of merit for resonant tunnelling devices. Resonant tunnelling devices with wide wells (~60 nm–1200 nm) exhibit a large number (≳ 20) of regions of negative differential conductivity. The effect of a transverse magnetic field J⊥B on the resonances in the I(V) characteristics of these wide well structures is investigated. At sufficiently high magnetic field, a transition is observed from tunnelling into magneto-electric box-quantised states to tunnelling into magnetically quantised cycloidal skipping states involving only the emitter barrier interface.
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© 1989 Plenum Press, New York
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Eaves, L., Sheard, F.W., Toombs, G.A. (1989). A Review of Recent Developments in Resonant Tunnelling. In: Abram, R.A., Jaros, M. (eds) Band Structure Engineering in Semiconductor Microstructures. NATO ASI Series, vol 189. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0770-0_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0770-0_13
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