Demonstration of resonant transmission in InAs/GaSb/InAs interband tunneling devices

We have performed a theoretical and experimental analysis of current transport in InAs/GaSb/InAs interband tunneling devices as a function of GaSb layer width. Our results demonstrate that current transport in these devices occurs not through simple ohmic conduction, as had been previously proposed, but via light-hole-like resonances in the GaSb valence band formed due to the imperfect matching of InAs conduction-band and GaSb valence-band wave functions at the InAs/GaSb interfaces. These resonances produce a strong dependence of the current-voltage characteristics on GaSb layer width that is both predicted theoretically and observed experimentally. Our results also suggest that coupling between InAs conduction-band and GaSb heavy-hole valence-band states is relatively unimportant in these devices. In addition, we have been able to obtain peak current densities of ∼9×104 A/cm2, significantly higher than any previously reported current densities for this structure.