Phase-Breaking Effect Appearing in the Current–Voltage Characteristics of Double-Barrier Resonant Tunneling Diodes –Theoretical Fitting Over Four Orders of Magnitude–

Abstract

We analyzed current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of double-barrier resonant tunneling diodes (DBRTDs), taking into account the phase-breaking effect and the structural inhomogeneity by using the correlation function theory of phase breaking to fit the experimental data over four orders of magnitude. The phase-breaking effect appears in the current region of less than one-hundredth of the peak in I–V characteristics, in addition to the peak of the second derivative curve. The well width fluctuation, if any, influences the latter but not the former. Using the theory, the phase-coherent length and the well width fluctuation are estimated separately.