In0.53Ga0.47As/AlAs resonant tunneling diodes with peak current densities in excess of 450 kA/cm2

Extremely high peak current density resonant tunneling diodes, with high peak-to-valley current ratios, have been obtained in the InP-based InGaAlAs material system by using very thin AlAs barriers and In0.53Ga0.47As wells, within In0.53Ga0.47As bounding regions. A peak current density of 460 kA/cm2 has been obtained for diodes with 4-ML AlAs barriers and a 16-ML In0.53Ga0.47As well. The room-temperature peak-to-valley current ratio of these devices is 4. From a measurement of the dependence of the peak current density on barrier thickness, a value for the strength, m*V, of the pseudomorphic AlAs barrier on In0.53Ga0.47As is found to be 0.07±0.01 eV.