DEPENDENCE OF RESONANT INTERBAND TUNNELING CURRENT ON BARRIER AND WELL WIDTH IN INAS ALSB/GASB/ALSB/INAS DOUBLE-BARRIER STRUCTURES/

Dependence of the peak current densities (I-p) on AlSb barrier and GaS b well widths (L(b) and L(w)) in InAs/AlSb/ GaSb/AlSb/InAs double-barr ier resonant interband tunneling diodes was systematically investigate d. We found that I-p increases exponentially and reaches 7.5 x 10(4) A /cm(2), which is the highest value ever reported, as L(b) decreases fr om 7 to 3ML. We also found that I-p increases monotonically as L(w) de creases from 46 to 10 ML. When L(w) is less than 10 ML, however, I-p d ecreases with the decrease in L(w) and thus has a maximum value for L( w) of 10 ML. This behavior can be explained well in terms of one domin ant resonance level. Agreement between the behaviors of the dominant r esonance level and the calculated energy level for the ground state of light holes in the well indicates that I-p is mainly dominated by int erband tunneling through the ground state of light holes.