We have analyzed the tunneling transmission probability and electronic
current density through resonant heterostructures in the presence of
an external electromagnetic field. In this work, we compare two differ
ent models for a double barrier: In the first case the effect of the e
xternal field is taken into account by spatially dependent ac voltages
and in the second one the electromagnetic field is described in terms
of a photon field that irradiates homogeneously the whole sample. Whi
le in the first description the tunneling takes place mainly through p
hotosidebands, in the case of homogeneous illumination the main effect
ive tunneling channels correspond to the coupling between different el
ectronic states due to photon absorption and emission. The difference
of tunneling mechanisms between these configurations is strongly refle
cted in the transmission and current density which present very differ
ent features in both cases. In order to analyze these effects we have
obtained, within the transfer Hamiltonian framework, a general express
ion for the transition probability for coherent resonant tunneling in
terms of the Green's function of the system.