Resonant tunneling in AlSb/InAs/AlSb double-barrier heterostructures

Abstract

We report the first observations of resonant tunneling in the AlSb/InAs material system, with a maximum peak-to-valley current ratio of 1.8:1 at room temperature and 9:1 at 77 K. The large AlSb/InAs barrier height of 1.8 eV for electrons and high-mobility InAs will be advantageous in device applications. In particular, the small electron effective mass in InAs makes it possible to demonstrate quantum effects in a 24 nm well, the longest coherence distance reported for double-barrier tunneling structures. We estimate that an AlSb/InAs resonant tunneling transistor can significantly outperform similar devices based on AlGaAs/GaAs.