Quantum well width and barrier Thickness effects on the perpendicular transport in polar and non-polar oriented AlGaN/GaN Resonant Tunneling Diodes

Abstract

In this study, we theoretically investigated the electronic properties of resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) grown along the polar and non-polar orientations by using the self-consistent solution of the coupled Schrödinger and Poisson equations. Based on the transfer matrix formalism, the effects of the geometrical parameters on the current-voltage characteristics of Al0.2Ga0.8N/GaN RTDs we analyzed by varying GaN well width and Al0.2Ga0.8N/GaN barrier thicknesses. The results show that the characteristics of polar and nonpolar Al0.2Ga0.8 N/GaN RTD strongly depend on the barrier and well size; showing a strong decrease in peak and valley current density and a large PVR enhancement when increasing well and barrier thickness. To bring interesting RTD electrical characteristics, a comparison between the polar and non-polar Al0.2 Ga0.8N/GaN RTD was performed. non-polar oriented RTDs show better electronic characteristics, including higher peak current density (Jpeak), smaller peak voltage (Vpeak), and greater pic-to-valley ratio (PVR), than polar ones