Resonant tunneling transistors with controllable negative differential resistances

Abstract

Three-terminal devices based on resonant tunneling through two quantum barriers separated by a quantum well are presented and analyzed theoretically. Each proposed device consists of a resonant tunneling double barrier heterostructure integrated with a Schottky barrier field-effect transistor configuration. The essential feature of these devices is the presence, in their output current-voltage ( <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">I_{D} - V_{D}</tex> ) curves, of negative differential resistances controlled by a gate voltage. Because of the high-speed characteristics associated with tunnel structures, these devices could find applications in tunable millimeter-wave oscillators, negative resistance amplifiers, and high-speed digital circuits.