Abstract

The work by Esaki and Tsu on tunneling in superlattices¹ has generated a considerable interest for the potential application of tunneling to real devices. The rapid progress of epitaxial growth techniques has led to the creation of novel semiconductor structures which exhibit quantum-size effects and tunneling such as the double-barrier resonnant tunneling structures or the superlattice p-i-n diodes². Transport studies in these structures demonstrated Bloch transport through the superlattice minibands³, negative differential resistance in double barrier diodes⁴, field induced localization⁵. More recently, optical measurements have been performed in double barrier structures in order to gain some insight on space-charge buildup⁶ and escape rates⁷.

© 1989 Optical Society of America