Influences of Interface Roughness Scattering on Asymmetric and/or Steplike Current–Voltage Characteristics of Resonant Tunneling Diodes

Abstract
The influences of interface roughness (IR) scattering on transmission coefficient and current-voltage ( I–V ) characteristics of double-barrier resonant tunneling diodes are investigated. Simulation results reveal that asymmetric interface roughness scattering on different interfaces of the heterostructure may result in asymmetric I–V characteristics. In addition, it is suggested that the splitting of subband energy levels inside the quantum well caused by IR with large terraces (≥15 nm) may be one of the causes leading to a steplike I–V curve in the negative differential resistance region.