Effect of cathode spacer layer on the current-voltage characteristics of resonant tunneling diodes

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Abstract
The effect of a lightly doped cathode spacer layer on resonant tunneling of Al0.3Ga0.7As-GaAs double-barrier heterostructures is examined. A self-consistent band-bending calculation combined with a quantum calculation of current-voltage characteristics is used to model the experimentally observed I-V curves. It is found that the I-V characteristics show additional structures, sensitively dependent upon temperature. These effects result from the formation of a wide barrier by space-charge reaction in the spacer layer leading to two possible resonant states. The validity of the theoretical approach is supported by the good agreement with experimental results.