The effects of GaSb/InAs broken gap on interband tunneling current of a GaSb/InAs/GaSb/AlSb/InAs tunneling structure

We propose and study a new GaSb/InAs/GaSb/AlSb/InAs broken-gap interband tunneling diode by varying the thicknesses of the InAs layer. A twice-higher peak current density and a three-times-higher peak-to-valley current ratio in the proposed structure with a 30-Å-thick InAs layer were observed relative to the structure with no InAs layer. This result indicates that the characteristic of the negative differential resistance can be improved simply by placing a thin effective InAs barrier on the GaSb side of the GaSb/AlSb/InAs single-barrier structure. The increase of the peak current is interpreted as the result of forming a quasi-bound state in the GaSb well. This interpretation is supported by the observation that the current-voltage characteristic of the proposed structure is similar to that of a conventional GaSb/AlSb/GaSb/AlSb/InAs double-barrier interband tunneling structure.