All-Graphene Planar Double-Quantum-Dot Resonant Tunneling Diodes

Abstract

This paper proposes a new class of resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) that are planar and realizable with a single graphene nanoribbon. Unlike conventional RTDs, which incorporate vertical quantum well regions, the proposed devices incorporate two confined planar quantum dots within the single graphene nanoribbon, giving rise to a pronounced negative differential resistance (NDR) effect. The proposed devices, termed here as planar double-quantum-dot RTDs, and their transport properties are investigated using quantum simulations based on nonequilibrium Green’s function formalism and the extended Huckel method. The proposed devices exhibit a unique current–voltage waveform consisting of a single pronounced current peak with an extremely high, in the order of $10^{4}$ , peak-to-valley ratio. The position of the current peak can be tuned between discrete voltage levels, allowing digitized tunability, which is exploited to realize multi-peak NDR devices.