Electrical field and temperature effects in 2D‐2D resonant tunneling diodes based on cubic InGaN/AlGaN

Abstract

The present work reports on a study of the electron transport in a 2D‐2D resonant tunneling diode based on strained Al0.3Ga0.7N/In0.2Ga0.8N/Al0.3Ga0.7N quantum wells embedded between relaxed n‐Al0.15Ga0.85N/strained In0.2Ga0.8N emitter and collector contacts. The epilayers are assumed to be with cubic crystal structure to avoid the effects of spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization fields. The aluminum composition in both the injector and collector contacts is taken relatively weak, but large band offsets are achieved at the boundary of the preconfinement wells. The heterostructure modeled is aimed to operate at high biases and at elevated temperatures. Calculations of the band edges and quantum‐bound states were made using a self‐consistent solver of the Schrödinger and Poisson equations. Obtained results revealed: (i) a charge transfer occurs due to a resonant tunneling through a double barrier, (ii). A special attention is paid to the effects of resonant tunneling and thermal activation on the charge transfer. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)