Current-voltage characteristics of In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As resonant tunneling barrier structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Well width dependence and temperature dependence of negative differential resistance characteristics of InGaAs/InAlAs resonant tunneling barrier diodes were investigated. Peak current density was almost independent of temperature, while the valley current density increased with increasing temperature above 100 K. At room temperature, a peak-to-valley current ratio of 5.5 with a peak current density of 4.8×104 A/cm2 was obtained by reducing the quantum well width to a narrow 32.2 Å. This is the largest peak-to-valley current ratio ever reported for resonant tunneling barrier diodes at room temperature.