Resonant tunneling and the quasiparticle lifetime in graphene/boron nitride/graphene heterostructures

Guerrero-Becerra, Karina A.; Tomadin, Andrea; Polini, Marco

doi:10.1103/physrevb.93.125417

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Beyond the tunnelling barriers, highly-doped regions of the narrow band-gap semiconductor act as an electron source/sink and are usually referred to as the emitter/collector regions, analogous to traditional bipolar transistors. Recently, resonant tunnelling devices using quantum dots 11,12 , atomic-scale defects 13 , graphene 14,15 and other two-dimensional materials 16,17 have been demonstrated, and this has renewed the interest in investigating resonant tunnelling and its applications using new materials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

N-state random switching based on quantum tunnelling

Gavito

Urbanos

Roberts

et al. 2017

Nanoengineering: Fabrication, Properties, Optics, and Devices XIV

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In this work, we show how the hysteretic behaviour of resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs) can be exploited for new functionalities. In particular, the RTDs exhibit a stochastic 2-state switching mechanism that could be useful for random number generation and cryptographic applications. This behaviour can be scaled to N-bit switching, by connecting various RTDs in series. The InGaAs/AlAs RTDs used in our experiments display very sharp negative differential resistance (NDR) peaks at room temperature which show hysteresis cycles that, rather than having a fixed switching threshold, show a probability distribution about a central value. We propose to use this intrinsic uncertainty emerging from the quantum nature of the RTDs as a source of randomness. We show that a combination of two RTDs in series results in devices with three-state outputs and discuss the possibility of scaling to N-state devices by subsequent series connections of RTDs, which we demonstrate for the up to the 4-state case.In this work, we suggest using that the intrinsic uncertainty in the conduction paths of resonant tunnelling diodes can behave as a source of randomness that can be integrated into current electronics to produce on-chip true random number generators. The N-shaped I-V characteristic of RTDs results in a two-level random voltage output when driven with current pulse trains. Electrical characterisation and randomness testing of the devices was conducted in order to determine the validity of the true randomness assumption. Based on the results obtained for the single RTD case, we suggest the possibility of using multi-well devices to generate N-state random switching devices for their use in random number generation or multi-valued logic devices.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

N-state random switching based on quantum tunnelling

Gavito

Urbanos

Roberts

et al. 2017

Nanoengineering: Fabrication, Properties, Optics, and Devices XIV

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Beyond the tunnelling barriers, highly doped regions of the narrow band-gap semiconductor are usually referred to as the emitter/collector regions, analogous to those in traditional bipolar transistors. Recently, resonant tunnelling devices using quantum dots 10,11 , atomic-scale defects 12 , graphene 13,14 and other two-dimensional materials 15,16 have been demonstrated, and this has renewed the interest in investigating resonant tunnelling and its applications using new materials. A high-resolution image of a typical RTD used in this work 8 , consisting of a square mesa (containing the quantum well structure) and an air bridge (for electrical connection), can be seen in Figure 1-a.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Extracting random numbers from quantum tunnelling through a single diode

Gavito

Bağcı

Roberts

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Random number generation is crucial in many aspects of everyday life, as online security and privacy depend ultimately on the quality of random numbers. Many current implementations are based on pseudo-random number generators, but information security requires true random numbers for sensitive applications like key generation in banking, defence or even social media. True random number generators are systems whose outputs cannot be determined, even if their internal structure and response history are known. Sources of quantum noise are thus ideal for this application due to their intrinsic uncertainty. In this work, we propose using resonant tunnelling diodes as practical true random number generators based on a quantum mechanical effect. The output of the proposed devices can be directly used as a random stream of bits or can be further distilled using randomness extraction algorithms, depending on the application.

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“…Gr/BN/Gr structures display negative differential resistance (NDR), 20,24,27,[30][31][32]34 and theoretical calculations predict maximum frequencies of several hundred GHz. 26 The NDR arises from the line-up of the source and drain graphene Dirac cones combined with the conservation of in-plane momentum.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In one experiment in which plateaus were observed in the current-voltage characteristics instead of NDR, the experimental results could be matched theoretically by ignoring momentum conservation. 23 In the theoretical treatments, the focus has been primarily on the rotation between top and bottom graphene layers and the resulting misalignment of the Dirac cones 20,27,32 . Recently, the effect of misalignment of both the BN and the graphene layers including the effects of phonon scattering have been investigated using the low-angle effective continuum model 30,35 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is also significant interest in Gr/BN/Gr heterostructures for electronic device applications [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] . Gr/BN/Gr structures display negative differential resistance (NDR), 20,24,27,[30][31][32]34 and theoretical calculations predict maximum frequencies of several hundred GHz.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interlayer transport through a graphene/rotated boron nitride/graphene heterostructure

Habib

et al. 2017

Phys. Rev. B

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Interlayer electron transport through a graphene / hexagonal boron-nitride (h-BN) / graphene heterostructure is strongly affected by the misorientation angle θ of the h-BN with respect to the graphene layers with different physical mechanisms governing the transport in different regimes of angle, Fermi level, and bias. The different mechanisms and their resulting signatures in resistance and current are analyzed using two different models, a tight-binding, non-equilibrium Green function model and an effective continuum model, and the qualitative features resulting from the two different models compare well. In the large-angle regime (θ > 4• ), the change in the effective h-BN bandgap seen by an electron at the K point of the graphene causes the resistance to monotonically increase with angle by several orders of magnitude reaching a maximum at θ = 30• . It does not affect the peak-to-valley current ratios in devices that exhibit negative differential resistance. In the small-angle regime (θ < 4• ), Umklapp processes open up new conductance channels that manifest themselves as non-monotonic features in a plot of resistance versus Fermi level that can serve as experimental signatures of this effect. For small angles and high bias, the Umklapp processes give rise to two new current peaks on either side of the direct tunneling peak.

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Resonant tunneling and the quasiparticle lifetime in graphene/boron nitride/graphene heterostructures

Cited by 18 publications

References 59 publications

N-state random switching based on quantum tunnelling

N-state random switching based on quantum tunnelling

Extracting random numbers from quantum tunnelling through a single diode

Interlayer transport through a graphene/rotated boron nitride/graphene heterostructure

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