Effect of Coulomb carrier drag and terahertz plasma instability in p+-p-i-n-n+ graphene tunneling transistor structures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Coulomb drag and plasma instabilities in graphene tunneling transistors can lead to terahertz radiation generation, highlighting the interplay between electron-hole interactions and device impedance.

Contribution

It introduces the analysis of Coulomb drag effects and plasma instability in graphene tunneling transistors, revealing their potential for terahertz radiation emission.

Findings

Coulomb drag causes current amplification in the device.

Strong drag can induce plasma instability and self-oscillation.

Potential for terahertz radiation generation from the device.

Abstract

We evaluate the influence of the Coulomb drag of the electrons and holes in the gated n- and p-regions by the ballistic electrons and holes generated in the depleted i-region due to the interband tunneling on the current-voltage characteristics and impedance of the p+-p-i-n-n+ graphene tunneling transistor structures (GTTSs). The drag leads to a current amplification in the gated n- and p-regions and a positive feedback between the amplified dragged current and the injected tunneling current. A sufficiently strong drag can result in the negative real part of the GTTS impedance enabling the plasma instability and the self-excitation of the plasma oscillations in the terahertz (THz) frequency range. This effect might be used for the generation of the THz radiation.