Coupling between lateral modes in a vertical resonant tunneling structure

Abstract

We present experimental results and theoretical calculations of the vertical electron transport through a laterally constricted resonant tunneling transistor. Current–voltage measurements at 4.2 K show numerous current peaks that exhibit a complex dependence on the applied gate voltage. A scattering-matrix approach combined with the Landauer formalism was used to perform quantum mechanical calculations of the electron transport through a quantum dot structure with laterally confined emitter and collector regions. The simulations qualitatively reproduce the measured data, suggesting a strong coupling between the lateral modes in the quantum dot and the collector.