Photon-assisted resonant tunneling through a double-barrier structure for infrared radiation detection

Abstract
A Green’s-function approach is employed to calculate the electron tunneling through a double-barrier device for infrared-radiation detection. Electrons photoexcited by an ir beam undergo transitions to a resonant channel, so that the transmission coefficient for tunneling substantially increases by several orders of magnitude compared with the dark state. This photon-induced resonant tunneling can be switched and controlled by a change of the applied static voltage. Such a system is ideal for ir photodetectors.