The optical model to incorporate the effect of scattering is improved
by using the energy dependent optical potential that is determined by
experimental data on hot electrons. Using this model, the I - V charac
teristic of a resonant tunneling diode is calculated, and the calculat
ed result explains experiments well. From this analysis it turns out t
hat the valley current of the resonant tunneling diode is intimately r
elated to the scattering rate of hot electrons in the well. As this mo
del is easy to use and simple to interpret, it is quite suitable for s
imulation of device characteristics.