Bias circuit instabilities and their effect on the d.c. current-voltage characteristics of double-barrier resonant tunneling diodes

Abstract

Bias circuit stability has important implications for the study and application of double-barrier resonant tunneling structures. Stability criteria for resonant tunneling diodes are investigated for the common bias circuit topologies. A systematic study was made of the effect of different bias circuit elements on the measured d.c. I-V curves. A double-barrier diode was studied as an example, with experimental and theoretical results. The main results of the paper are (1) stable resonant tunneling diode operation is difficult to obtain, (2) the low-frequency oscillation introduces a characteristic signature in the measured d.c. I-V characteristic.