Design, fabrication and operation of a hot electron resonant tunneling transistor

Abstract

Transistors employing resonant tunneling injection of hot electrons into a thin quantum well base region have been fabricated. The base region in these transistors is formed by a narrow bandgap material like InGaAs so that the first level is a confined one lying below the Fermi level in the contact regions. This results in charge transfer into the bound state in the quantum well thus allowing independent control of the base electrostatic potential. Theoretical calculations showing the importance of various device parameters in the design of a resonant tunneling transistor are presented and preliminary results showing the capability of transistor action in such devices are presented.