Full band-structure theory of resonance tunneling devices

A full-band structure theory has been developed to calculate the transmission coefficients of electrons and holes through semiconductor quantum wells and barriers. Our method, combining the merits of a difference-equation approach, the transfer method, and a scattering method, is capable of dealing with spatially varying potentials and structures of arbitrary thickness without suffering numerical instability. This method is being used along with detailed band structures of III-V and II-VI semiconductors and alloys to optimize charge transport in nano structures. Here we focus on the calculation of I-V characteristics of resonant tunnelling diodes, with special attention on the mechanisms that control the high peak to valley ratio. Comparison are made between our theory and other approximate methods