Equivalence between resonant tunneling and sequential tunneling in double-barrier diodes

Abstract

Resonant tunneling is known to lead to negative differential resistance in double-barrier diodes. Sequential tunneling has been proposed by S. Luryi [Appl. Phys. Lett. 47, 490 (1985)] as an alternative mechanism for the negative differential resistance observed. We show that the two interpretations lead to the same predictions for the dc current.