Strong Band-Edge Light Emission from InGaAs RTDs: Evidence for the Universal Nature of Resonant- and Zener- Co-Tunneling

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates strong room-temperature light emission from InGaAs resonant-tunneling diodes, revealing that Zener co-tunneling plays a significant role in electroluminescence, similar to GaN-based devices, suggesting a universal co-tunneling mechanism.

Contribution

It provides evidence for the universal nature of resonant- and Zener co-tunneling in light emission from RTDs across different material systems.

Findings

Light emission at the InGaAs band-edge near 1650 nm.

Zener co-tunneling significantly contributes to hole generation.

Universal co-tunneling mechanism supported by similar tunneling factors.

Abstract

We report strong light emission from a room-temperature n-type unipolar-doped In0.53Ga0.47As/AlAs double-barrier resonant-tunneling diode (DBRTD) precisely at the In0.53Ga0.47As band-edge near 1650 nm. The emission characteristics are very similar to what was observed recently in GaN/AlN DBRTDs, both of which suggest that the mechanism for emission is cross-gap electron-hole recombination via resonant- and Zener co-tunneling of electrons, the latter mechanism generating the required holes. Analysis shows that because of the relatively small bandgap, the Zener tunneling probability can be large in this In0.53Ga0.47As/AlAs DBRTD, and is a mechanism that may have been overlooked in the longstanding literature. The universal nature of the co-tunneling is best supported by the factor (EG)2/F in the Kane tunneling probability, which is nearly the same at the peak voltage of the In0.53Ga0.47As and GaN DBRTDs.