Evidence of Gamma-X sequential resonant tunneling in GaAs/AlAs superlattices

We have studied the sequential resonant tunneling of doped weakly coupled GaAs/AlAs superlattices under hydrostatic pressure up to 4.5 kbar. The pressure coefficient obtained from the experiment, 15.3 meV/kbar, provides a strong evidence for the formation of the electric field domain due to Gamma-X sequential resonant tunneling, At the same time, we have observed the transition between two kinds of sequential resonant tunneling processes within the pressure range from 0 to 4.5 kbar, where the transition pressure between Gamma-Gamma and Gamma-X sequential resonant tunneling is P-t similar to 1.6 kbar. For P < P-t, the electric field domain is formed by Gamma-Gamma sequential resonant tunneling, while for P > P-t, the electric field domain is preferably formed by Gamma-X sequential resonant tunneling. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.

Photoluminescence investigation of charge build-up process in the emitter of a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure

Charge build-up process in the emitter of a double-barrier resonant tunneling structure is studied by using photoluminescence spectroscopy. Clear evidence is obtained that the charge accumulation in the emitter keeps almost constant with bias voltages in the resonant regime, while it increases remarkably with bias voltages beyond resonant regime. The optical results are in good agreement with the electrical measurement. It is demonstrated that the band gap renormalization plays a certain rob in the experiment.

A transition layer model and its application to resonant tunneling in heterostructures

A transition layer model is proposed and used to calculate resonant tunneling in a double-barrier quantum well system. Compared with the ideal step of the potential at the interface, the studied system has transition layers that are composed by many thin rectangular barriers with a random height. It is found that these transition layers can improve the peak-to-valley ratio of the tunneling current and change the negative differential conductance.

A RESONANT RAMAN-STUDY ON PHONONS IN GAINAS/ALINAS MULTIPLE-QUANTUM WELLS

The LO phonon modes in the barrier layers of a GaInAs/AlInAs multiple quantum well structure are investigated by resonance Raman scattering (RRS), the excitation laser photon energy tuned to resonate with the above barrier interband transition energy. The resonance enhancement of LO phonon peaks are shown to be caused by Frohlich electron-phonon interaction. The pressure-dependent profiles for both AlAs-like (LO(2) mode) and InAs-like (LO(1) mode) Raman peak intensities are well fitted by the Gaussian lineshape. The shift between these two profiles can be explained by the outgoing RRS mechanism, providing information on the pressure-induced shift of the excitonic transition energy. The amplitude ratios of the two profiles are close to 1, showing a well defined two-mode behavior and the nearly equal polarizability for Al-As and In-As bonds in AlInAs alloy.

TUNNELING ESCAPE TIME OF ELECTRONS THROUGH DOUBLE-BARRIER RESONANT-TUNNELING STRUCTURES

Tunneling escape of electrons from quantum wells (QWs) has systematically been studied in an arbitrarily multilayered heterostructures, both theoretically and experimentally. A wave packet method is developed to calculate the bias dependence of tunneling escape time (TET) in a three-barrier, two-well structure. Moreover, by considering the time variation of the band-edge profile in the escape transient, arising from the decay of injected electrons in QWs, we demonstrate that the actual escape time of certain amount of charge from QWs, instead of single electron, could be much longer than that for a single electron, say, by two orders of magnitude at resonance. The broadening of resonance may also be expected from the same mechanism before invoking various inhomogeneous and homogeneous broadening. To perform a close comparison between theory and experiment, we have developed a new method to measure TET by monitoring transient current response (TCR), stemming from tunneling escape of electrons out of QWs in a similar heterostructure. The time resolution achieved by this new method reaches to several tens ns, nearly three orders of magnitude faster than that by previous transient-capacitance spectroscopy (TCS). The measured TET shows an U-shaped, nonmonotonic dependence on bias, unambiguously indicating resonant tunneling escape of electrons from an emitter well through the DBRTS in the down-stream direction. The minimum value of TET obtained at resonance is accordance with charging effect and its time variation of injected electrons. A close comparison with the theory has been made to imply that the dynamic build-up of electrons in DBRTS might play an important role for a greatly suppressed tunneling escape rate in the vicinity of resonance.

InP-base resonant tunneling diodes

We have fabricated In_0.53Ga_0.47As/AlAs/InP resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) based on the air-bridge technology by using electron beam lithography processing.The epitaxial layers of the RTD were grown on semi-insulating (100) InP substrates by molecular beam epitaxy.RTDs with a peak current density of 24.6 kA/cm~2 and a peak-to-valley current ratio of 8.6 at room temperature have been demonstrated.

Laterally Electrostatically Driven Poly 3C-SiC Folded-Beam Resonant Microstructures

Micromachined comb-drive electrostatic resonators with folded-cantilever beams were designed and fabricated. A combination of Rayleigh＇s method and finite-element analysis was used to calculate the resonant frequency drift as we adjusted the device geometry and material parameters. Three micromachined lateral resonant resonators with different beam widths were fabricated. Their resonant frequencies were experimentally measured to be 64.5,147.2, and 255.5kHz, respectively, which are in good agreement with the simulated resonant frequency. It is shown that an improved frequency performance could be obtained on the poly 3C-SiC based device structural material systems with high Young＇s modulus.

Design of a Frequency Divider with Reduced Complexity Based on a Resonant Tunneling Diode

A novel edge-triggered D-flip-flop based on a resonant tunneling diode (RTD) is proposed and used to construct a binary frequency divider. The design is discussed in detail and the performance of the circuit is verified using SPICE. Relying on the nonlinear characteristics of RTD, we reduced the number of components used in our DFF circuit to only half of that required using conventional CMOS SCFL technology.

A Monolithic Integrated Logic Circuit of Resonant Tunneling Diodes and a HEMT

A technology for the monolithic integration of resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) and high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) is developed. Molecular beam epitaxy is used to grow an RTD on a HEMT structure on GaAs substrate. The RTD has a room temperature peak-to-valley ratio of 5.2:1 with a peak current density of 22.5kA/cm~2. The HEMT has a 1μm gate length with a-1V threshold voltage. A logic circuit called a monostableto-bistable transition logic element (MOBILE) circuit is developed. The experimental result confirms that the fabricated logic circuit operates successfully with frequency operations of up to 2GHz.

Fabrication of an AlAs/In0.53Ga0.47As/InAs Resonant Tunneling Diode on InP Substrate for High-Speed Circuit Applications

A high performance AlAs/In0.53 Ga0.47 As/InAs resonant tunneling diode （RTD） on InP substrate is fabricated by inductively coupled plasma etching. This RTD has a peak-to-valley current ratio （PVCR） of 7. 57 and a peak current density Jp = 39.08kA/cm^2 under forward bias at room temperature. Under reverse bias, the corresponding values are 7.93 and 34.56kA/cm^2 . A resistive cutoff frequency of 18.75GHz is obtained with the effect of a parasitic probe pad and wire. The slightly asymmetrical current-voltage characteristics with a nominally symmetrical structure are also discussed.

Resonant Raman Scattering and Photoluminescence Emissions from Above Bandgap Levels in Dilute GaAsN Alloy

The transitions of E0 ,E0 ＋A0, and E＋ in dilute GaAs（1-x） Nx alloys with x = 0.10% ,0.22% ,0.36% ,and 0.62% are observed by micro-photoluminescence. Resonant Raman scattering results further confirm that they are from the intrinsic emissions in the studied dilute GaAsN alloys rather than some localized exciton emissions in the GaAsN alloys. The results show that the nitrogen-induced E E＋ and E0 ＋ A0 transitions in GaAsN alloys intersect at a nitrogen content of about 0.16%. It is demonstrated that a small amount of isoelectronic doping combined with micro-photoluminescence allows direct observation of above band gap transitions that are not usually accessible in photoluminescence.

Fabrication of 1.55μm Si-Based Resonant Cavity Enhanced Photodetectors

A novel bonding method using silicate gel as bonding medium is developed.High reflective SiO2/Si mirrors deposited on silicon substrates by e-beam deposition are bonded to the active layers at a low temperature of 350℃ without any special treatment on bonding surfaces.The reflectivities of the mirrors can be as high as 99.9%.A Si-based narrow band response InGaAs photodetector is successfully fabricated,with a quantum efficiency of 22.6% at the peak wavelength of 1.54μm,and a full width at half maximum of about 27nm.This method has a great potential for industry processes.

Design and Realization of Resonant Tunneling Diodes with New Material Structure

A new material structure with Al0.22Ga(>. 78 As/Ino.i5 Gao.ss As/GaAs emitter spacer layer and GaAs/Ino.15-Gao.8ii As/GaAs well for resonant tunneling diodes is designed and the corresponding device is fabricated. RTDs DC characteristics are measured at room temperature. Peak-to-valley current ratio and the available current density for RTDs at room temperature are computed. Analysis on these results suggests that adjusting material structure and optimizing fabrication processes will be an effective means to improve the quality of RTDs.