Resonant tunneling of two-dimensional electrons through a quantum wire: A negative transconductance device

Abstract

A novel three-terminal resonant-tunneling structure is proposed in which the double potential barrier is defined within the plane of a two-dimensional (2-D) electron gas. The resonant tunneling of 2-D electrons into a 1-D ‘‘quantum wire’’ is controlled not only by a source-to-drain voltage but also by a gate potential. In addition to the negative differential resistance found in conventional resonant-tunneling diodes, our device offers a negative transconductance. This feature is potentially useful for low-power logic circuits.