A systematic study of interband tunneling between states of one, two, and three dimensions (1D, 2D, 3D) is presented based on the theory of the Esaki tunnel diode, modified to take interdimensional tunneling into account. I-V characteristics are given for each of the nine possible combinations. Three systems are dealt with in greater depth: 2D-3D tunneling, where a comparison with experimental data is made, 2D-2D tunneling, where improvements over the conventional tunnel diode characteristic are seen, and 2D-1D tunneling where the prospect of a tristable device is discussed.

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Electrorefiectance spectroscopy is a useful diagnostic tool for potential and field distribution in semiconductors, and spectra from experiments performed on samples taken from highly doped (neardegenerate) wafers of Ill-V materials have been compared with theory. Satisfactory modelling has been achieved using recent advances in the understanding of the Moss-Burstein (band-filling) effect, and the accurate modelling of bandgap narrowing and other heavy doping prupernes IS a 5 0 uemonstrareo.The Moss-Burstein effect makes its principal contribution to the dielectric function in the low-field region, as does that of excitonic absorption, and both effects are shown to require special computational considerations with respect to the electric field profile. When a Boltzmann carrier concentration (rather than a Schottky depletion) model is used, the calculated result for the Moss-Burstein eI,c:cL rapluly ti;urtve,!jeo LU L I E Ciurreti, ,U~es,,ape.Ute oGIlutmy uep,auu,, model is shown to result in much siower convergence to a signal of much smaller magnitude, and a simple excitonic calculation shows the same tendencies, clearly demonstrating the importance of a correct field profile model,