Dependence of the conduction in In0.53Ga0.47As-InP double-barrier tunneling structures on the mesa-etching process

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Abstract
Measurements of the current‐voltage curves of several In0.53Ga0.47As‐InP double‐barrier tunneling structures are presented as a function of the etching process used. It is shown that the large nontunneling leakage current previously observed in devices etched with the HBr:H3PO4:K2Cr2O7 solution is caused by conduction at the etched edges of the mesas. This leakage current is significantly reduced by the selective etching of the InGaAs from InP and the peak‐to‐valley ratio is thereby increased to a maximum value of 3.1 at 4.2 K. The resonance voltage values are symmetrical about zero bias in contrast to results obtained from similar structures of the AlGaAs‐GaAs and HgTe‐HgCdTe systems, and are in good agreement with theory for the more pronounced of the two resonances observed in these devices.