Effect of spacer layer thickness on the static characteristics of resonant tunneling diodes

Abstract

A self‐consistent quantum mechanical simulation is used to study the effect of spacer layer thickness on such resonant tunneling diode properties as the peak current and peak‐to‐valley current ratio. It is found that with a low cathode doping the peak current is insensitive to the commonly used spacer layer thickness. However, for higher cathode doping the peak current decreases with increasing spacer layer thickness. This phenomenon is explained on the basis of the junction potential between the heavily doped cathode contact region and the undoped double‐barrier region. Thus, for device applications where a high current density is desired the cathode spacer layer should be designed as thin as possible.