PRECISE CONTROL OF RESONANT TUNNELING CURRENT IN ALAS/GAAS/ALAS DOUBLE BARRIER DIODES WITH ATOMICALLY-CONTROLLED BARRIER WIDTHS

The resonant tunneling current is studied in AlAs/GaAs/AlAs double barrier heterostructures in which the barrier widths L//B are precisely controlled to be exactly 5, 8 and 11 atomic monolayers. It is demonstrated for the first time that the density of resonant current in these diodes can be controlled from 5 multiplied by 10**2 Acm** minus **2 to 1. 2 multiplied by 10**4 Acm** minus **2 by the choice of L//B, in accordance with the theoretical calculations. Furthermore, I-V characteristics of these devices are shown to be excellent with peak-to-valley ratios of 2. 3 at room temperature and 10 at 80 K, the highest values ever reported.