Tunneling in a finite superlattice

R. Tsu and L. Esaki

Citation: Appl. Phys. Lett. 22, 562 (1973); doi: 10.1063/1.1654509

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Tunneling in a finite superlattice*
R. Tsu and L. Esaki
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598
(Received 9 March 1973)

We have computed the transport properties of a finite superlattice from the tunneling point
of view. The computed 1- V characteristic describes the experimental cases of a limited
number of spatial periods or a relatively short electron mean free path.

Since the original proposal and theoretical analysis of a

one-dimensional superlattice l -3 having a period shorter T) =M ••• M '"
(o 1 P
M
"
(1)
R '
than the electron mean free path, there have been con-
siderable efforts to realize such a structure .4,5 Intrigu- whel'e
ing transport properties such as negative differential M =~I exp(ikp+zdp+z) exp(ikp: A>+2»)
conductivity, Bloch oscillation, etc., in this man-made P 4 \exp(- ikp+2dp+2 ) - exp(- zkp+2 dp+2 )
superlattice structure were predicted on the basis of a
drastic reduction of the Brillouin zone into a series of • (exp(kp+1dp+1) exp(-kp+1dp+l) \
minizones, due to the introduction of a large superlat- \- i(k p+/kp+2) exp(kp +1dp+1) - i(k p+1/k p +2 ) exp\kp +1dp +1)}
tice period.
1 + i(k/kp +) 1 - i(k/kp+)\
The band model obviously assumes an infinite periodic X ( 1 _ i(k/kp+ ) 1 + i(k/k p+ )} ,
1 1
structure. In reality, however, not only a finite number
of periods is prepared with alternating epitaxy, but also in which kp =[2m*(Vp -Er)jl'2/n.
the electron mean free path is relatively short. In addi-
tion, interfaces between the superlattice and terminal In the above equations m*, Vp, and E, are the effective
electrodes are unavoidable. For instance, GaAs- mass, the potential for the pth section, and the longitu-
Ga1_xAI.,As supe rlattices grown on GaAs substrates 6,7 dinal energy, respectively.
are usually sandwiched between GaAs regions where The reflection and transmission amplitudes are given by
Ohmic contacts are attached. Thus, the potential profile
R= -M21 /M 22
of the system is schematically illustrated in Fig. 1,
where the right- and left-hand contacts correspond to and
pure GaAs. Periodically introduced Gao. 5Alo. 5As layers
give rise to regions having a barrier height of appro xi - T=Mll-M12M2r!M22'
mately 0.5 eV. The superlattice region extends over the To find the net tunneling current, we need to define the
range a distance I. With an applied voltage V, we as- energy E which measures the energy of the incident
sume that the field is uniformly distributed over a low- electron and E', that of the transmitted. The current is
conducting superlattice region, as is shown in the lower given by
part of Fig. 1, where E f is the Fermi energy in the
GaAs contact (EI '" O. 005 eV for n'" 10 17 cm- 3 ).
In order to understand the transport properties together
with the role of the interfaces between the conducting Because of a separation of variables, the transmission
GaAs terminals and the low-conducting superlattice, we coefficient T* T is only a function of the longitudinal en-
apply the formalism of multibarrier tunneling to the sys- ergy.8 Together with the Fermi distribution function, the
tern. By using the effective mass approY.i.mation for the expression for the current may be immediately inte-
unperturbed structures, the three-dimensional Schrodin-
grated over the transverse direction, giving
ger's equation for the one-dimensional periodic potential
represented by V(x), where x is along the direction of
the multi barriers , may be separated into transverse and
longitudinal parts; i. e., the total energy E is written by
the sum of the longitudinal and the transverse energies, For T ~ 0, the above expression becomes
E=Er(V) + 1rkV2m* ,
and the wave function is expressed by the product,
I/!=I/!rl/!t·
11+-'_ _ _ _ _ .l. dp dp+1 dp+2
For an n-period superlattice the electron wave functions
in the left- and right-hand contacts are respectively'

I/!l = I/!t [exp (ik1x) + R exp(- ik1x)],

E
eV
ruU[- n n--L
d'uJuluumlHllHmr _ -
----~ ~-L-
_L___ - -
I/!" = I/! t[ T exp(ik"x)] ,
FIG. 1. Top: A finite superlattice of length l with barrier
where Rand T are the reflection and transmission am- height eVo. Bottom: Solid line indicates the potential profile
plitudes. By matching the derivatives and values at each used for our calculations with the application of an applied
discontinuity, we arrive at voltage V.

562 Appl. Phys. lett., Vol. 22, No. 11, 1 June 1973 Copyright © 1973 American Institute of Physics 562

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563 R. Tsu and L. Esaki: Tunneling in finite superlattice 563

is about twice the transmission peak of 0.082 e V. This

is because the bottom of the well shifts only half the
-2 amount of the applied voltage for this case. Physically,
the current maxima occur at certain voltages such that
-4
the resonant energies approach the Fermi energy of the
-6
electrons at the left of the barrier. The decrease in cur-
rent with increase in applied voltages results from the
o fact that not only the energy but also the transverse mo-
II '\ /,-
~"
mentum must be conserved in tunneling.
/ \j \
-2
'."
'V' II
I I / 3 Because of the finite mean free path of the electrons,
f- -4 I\ I
/ BARRIERS electrons may tunnel through N periods before they en-
*f- I \
I \ / counter collisions, after which the coherency is de-
<i 0 I: \ / "'"",- stroyed. Most electrons will return to the lowest al-
I :1 \ "'/,' ~\...
I 1'1 ' /' ".
-2 I:,' ,/' I" lowed states governed by statistics and the density of
I:~ '--- ", states. Under the influence of an applied voltage, these
I ; \ ~,~,/;
-4 electrons will repeat the tunneling process through the
/./ \ ••••••••• ____--------------- BARRIERS next N periods. The effect of incoherent multiple tunnel-
-6 ing is to broaden the peaks primarily because of the
,/
,l' spread in the electron mean free path and to increase
-8
.' the peak voltages by a factor in the I-V characteristic,
.'
I which is determined by the number of incoherent tunnel-
-10 /
ings. With a proper treatment of carrier statistics, this
-12'----;::;-.--"*;0;--;';:';---7;o--~~-;;--+-:;--~-=i approach should, in principle, lead to the same results
M 00 Q ffi W N ~ ~ ~
ELECTRON ENERGY IN eV
previously obtained with the band model. Nevertheless,
any significant increase in the number of periods will
FIG. 2. Natural log of the transmission coefficient vs the elec- result in rather tedious computations. Therefore, the
tron energy in eV for the cases of a double-, triple-, and a band model approach should be more suitable for those
quintuple-barrier. The barrier and well widths are 20 and 50
A, respectively. The barrier height is 0.5 eV. cases with a long electron mean free path.

In conclusion, we have found that the multibarrier tun-

J = (em */2-n21f3) fEj {E j - G
E,)T* T dE" neling model provides a better inSight to understand the
observation of the transport mechanism in the case of a
J = {em */21f1f3)[V JEf-v
o
T* T dE,
limited number of periods by design or a short mean
free path in a superlattice.

-13.----.----,----,---,--,----,---,---r---,
This result may be applied to any number of barriers.
Usually, in practice, 6 the extent of the mean free path is
-12
only several periods. Therefore, we have computed a
few cases up to five barriers. -15

Figure 2 shows the transmission coefficient T* T for a -14

double-barrier 9 (20 A-50 A.-20 A), a triple-barrier, and II
a quintuple-barrier case as a function of the electron II
energy. Note that the resonant energies for the triple-
-17
/
I \
,
barrier case is split into doublets, and those for the I
I
/.....
,
,..... ..... - ___ ,.,.," -16
quintuple -barrier case are split into quadruplets. The
-19 ~

h '\"
linewidths are roughly determined by the tunneling prob- c:

//
ability of the barrier width. For n barriers, there will II ,' I 'I
-18
be an {n -i)-fold splitting. These resonant energies will " I I I
" I , /+--1 2 , 3 BARRIERS
eventually approach the band model of our original super- -21 I ,I \ /
lattice treatment for large n.
,I,V '.. /
,~

-20
Figure 3 shows the calculated current density at 0 oK for I
I
the double -and triple -barrier cases, without the con- -23 "
, I
stant factor em*/2-n21f3 as a function of the applied volt- I I -22
age. Note that the 1- V characteristics indicate fine
structures having differential negative conductivities.
/J
-25~/~;--~-~-~-~~~~~~-~
The detail of these fine structures depends on the Fermi o .2 4 .6 .8 LO 12 14 16 18
energy. However, this dependence is negligibly small V (VOLTS)
for the case of a low Fermi energy which applies to FIG. 3. Natural log of the current density [J(em*/2rJill)-1
most semiconductors. The first peak for the double- (1. 6x 1O-12)2J vs the applied voltage V. 11 and 12 refer to the
barrier case is located approximately at 0.16 V, which cases of a double- and triple-barrier, respectively.

Appl. Phys. Lett.• Vol. 22, No. 11,1 June 1973

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564 R. Tsu and L. Esaki: Tunneling in finite superlattice 564

The authors are grateful to T. D. Schultz and L. L. p. 551-553.

Chang for helpful discussions, and to L. F. Alexander 5Zh. 1. Alferov, Yu. V. Zhilyzev, and Yu. V. Shmartsev,
for his assistance on computations. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 5, 196 (1971) [Sov. Phys. -Semicond.
5, 174 (1971)].
6L. Esaki, L.L. Chang, W.E. Howard, and V.L. Rideout,
Proceedings of the 11th International Cemference em the Phys-
*Research sponsored in part by the Army Research Office, ics of Semiconductors (Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw,
Durham, N. C. 1972), p. 431.
lL. EsakiandR. Tsu, IBMJ. Res. Dev. 14,61 (1970). 7 L. L. Chang, L. E saki, W. E. Howard, and R. Ludeke, J.
2P.A. Lebwohl and R. Tsu, J. Appl. Phys. 41, 2664 (1970). Vac. Sci. Technol. 10, 11 (1973).
3R. Tsu and L. Esaki, Appl. Phys. Lett. 19,246 (1971). 8C. B. Duke, Tunneling in Solids (Academic, New York, 1969),
4 L . Esaki, L. L. Chang, and R. Tsu, Proceedings of the 12th p. 32.
International Conference on Low Temperature Physics (1970). sR. H. Davis and H. H. Hosack, J. Appl. Phys. 34, 864 (1963).

Appl. Phys. Lett., Vol. 22, No. 11, 1 June 1973

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