MAGNETOTUNNELING IN INTERBAND TUNNEL STRUCTURES

We examine the effect of in-plane magnetic fields on transport propert ies of InAs/GaSb/AlSb-based resonant interband tunneling (RIT) structu res and barrierless resonant interband tunneling structures using the multiband k . p quantum transmitting boundary method [Y. X. Liu et al. , Phys. Rev. B 54, 5765 (1996)]. In interband tunnel structures with G aSb quantum wells, the primary peak found in the current-voltage chara cteristic is due to the coupling of InAs conduction-band electrons to quantized GaSb light-hole states, and a weaker shoulder peak typically shows up as the result of coupling to quantized GaSb heavy-hole state s. We find that in-plane magnetic fields can enhance this electron-hea vy-hole coupling, resulting in a more pronounced shoulder peak in the current-voltage characteristic. Qualitative agreement between our calc ulations and experimental data on RIT structures offers strong evidenc e for hole-mixing induced electron-heavy-hole coupling in interband tu nnel structures.