Characterisation of high current density resonant tunneling diodes for THz emission using photoluminescence spectroscopy

Kristof J. P. Jacobs; Razvan Baba; Benjamin J. Stevens; Toshikazu Mukai; Dai Ohnishi; Richard A. Hogg

doi:10.1117/12.2212669

15 March 2016 Characterisation of high current density resonant tunneling diodes for THz emission using photoluminescence spectroscopy

Kristof J. P. Jacobs, Razvan Baba, Benjamin J. Stevens, Toshikazu Mukai, Dai Ohnishi, Richard A. Hogg

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9758, Quantum Dots and Nanostructures: Growth, Characterization, and Modeling XIII; 97580L (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2212669
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2016, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) provide high speed current oscillation which is applicable to THz generation when coupled to a suitably designed antenna. For this purpose, the InGaAs/AlAs/InP materials have been used, as this system offers high electron mobility, suitable band-offsets, and low resistance contacts. However for high current density operation (~MA/cm²) the epitaxial structure is challenging to characterize using conventional techniques as it consists of a single, very thin AlAs/InGaAs quantum well (QW). Here, we present a detailed low temperature photoluminescence spectroscopic study of high current density RTDs that allow the non-destructive mapping of a range of critical parameters for the device. We show how the doping level of the emitter/collector and contact layers in the RTD structure can be measured using the Moss-Burstein effect. For the full device structure, we show how emission from the QW may be identified, and detail how the emission changes with differing indium composition and well widths. We show that by studying nominally identical, un-doped structures, a type-II QW emission is observed, and explain the origin of the type-I emission in doped devices. This observation opens the way for a new characterization scheme where a “dummy” RTD active element is incorporated below the real RTD structure. This structure allows significantly greater control in the epitaxial process.

Citation Download Citation

Kristof J. P. Jacobs, Razvan Baba, Benjamin J. Stevens, Toshikazu Mukai, Dai Ohnishi, and Richard A. Hogg "Characterisation of high current density resonant tunneling diodes for THz emission using photoluminescence spectroscopy", Proc. SPIE 9758, Quantum Dots and Nanostructures: Growth, Characterization, and Modeling XIII, 97580L (15 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2212669

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