Experimental realization of a resonant tunneling transistor

We report experimental realization of a three‐terminal negative differential resistance (NDR) device. As proposed by A. R. Bonnefoi, T. C. McGill, and R. D. Burnham [IEEE Electron. Dev. Lett. EDL‐6, 636 (1985)], the structure consists of a GaAs‐AlxGa1−xAs double‐barrier tunneling heterostructure, the current through which is controlled by an integrated vertical field‐effect transistor. We present results for two samples grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Both samples exhibit NDR in their source‐drain current‐voltage characteristics at 77 K, with peak‐to‐valley current ratios ranging between 3 and 5.3. One sample exhibits NDR at room temperature. The position and peak‐to‐valley current ratio of the NDR can be modulated by gate voltage. Due to asymmetry in the doping levels of the two GaAs cladding layers, resonant tunneling peaks occur at much larger voltages in reverse bias than in forward bias.