Observation of intrinsic bistability in resonant tunneling diode modeling

Abstract
Intrinsic bistability has been observed experimentally and attributed to the effect on the potential profile from stored charge in the quantum well through Poisson’s equation. This effect leads to two possible current states corresponding to a single voltage within the negative resistance region. In this letter a simulation method is presented which clearly shows bistability in the current-voltage curve of a resonant tunneling diode. This method self-consistently combines a Thomas–Fermi equilibrium model for the electron concentrations outside the double-barrier structure with a quantum calculation for the concentration inside the structure.