Realization of a novel resonant-tunneling hot-electron transistor: Competition of ultrafast resonant-tunneling and energy relaxation

Abstract

We report a novel three-terminal hot-electron transistor, where at 77 K the transistor output characteristics can display novel features, including the negative differential resistance, extremely large peak-to-valley ratio, and a d.c. current gain. The operation of this novel transistor is based on quantum tunneling. The emitter injects hot-electrons to the second lowest subband of a thin (100 Å) quantum well, and these non-thermalized hot-electrons will then either resonantly tunnel to the collector or relax to the lowest subband and contribute to the base current. The resonant-tunneling probability of hot-electrons between the emitter and the collector can be switched almost completely on and off, when either the base or the collector bias is swept. The new characteristics are shown to have application in dense logic circuits.