HIGH-FREQUENCY SIMULATION OF RESONANT-TUNNELING DIODES

The small and large-signal response of the resonant tunneling diode at high-frequencies is studied using a quantum simulator. The Poisson and Schrodinger equations are solved self-consistently for each harmonic using the harmonic balance technique. This ensures that the total current, consisting of the displacement plus conduction currents, is conserved across the device for each harmonic. The RTD exhibits an increased capacitance in the negative differential conductance (NDC) region in agreement with experimental data. As recently proposed this capacitance increase results from the formation of an emitter well capacitor when the well discharges. The derivation of the RTD capacitance from a quasi-static analysis using the differential variation of the dc charge in the RTD is shown to be not applicable because the RTD well charges through the cathode but discharges through the anode. The frequency dependence of the conductance and susceptance is similar to reported experimental data. A large frequency dependence of the admittance is only observed when the RTD is biased in the negative differential conductance (NDC) region. These calculations predict an effective reduction of the RTD conductance and capacitance at high-frequency in the NDC region. This effect can be modeled using a quantum inductance in series with the negative resistance of the RTD as recently proposed. Due to the simultaneous reduction of both the conductance and the capacitance at high-frequency in the NDC region the maximum frequency of oscillation does not differ much from its estimate using the low frequency conductance and capacitance. The large-signal response at high-frequency of an RTD biased in the negative differential region is also presented in this paper. The large-signal negative-conductance is shown to decrease with both increasing frequency and ac voltage.