Nonresonant and resonant Zener tunneling

Abstract

The Zener tunneling rate is derived by quantum-mechanical perturbation theory, using the Kane functions as base functions. This result is able to describe both nonresonant and resonant tunneling and is in line with recent experimental findings on Zener tunneling in superlattices. In contrast, the result published in the literature, which is the state of art up until now, does not adequately describe resonant Zener tunneling and is not an improvement over the semiclassical theory. The reason for that is a misconception about the initial condition.