InGaAs/AlAs/InGaAsP resonant tunneling hot electron transistorsgrown by chemical beam epitaxy

InP-based resonant tunneling hot electron transistors (RHET's) were studied systematically using chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) for the first time. All the RHET's studied have a highly strained AlAs/In_0.75Ga_0.25As/AlAs resonant tunneling double barrier as a hot electron injector, and an InP collector barrier with or without InGaAsP graded layers. The highest transport ratio (α) observed is 0.98, and the highest peak-to-valley current ratios (PVR's) measured are 20 and 200 in the collector current and base current, respectively, at 80 K. A self-consistent simulation is used as a reference to optimize the hot electron injector and to explain the ballistic transport. An energy spectrometer technique was applied to the RHET's for resolving the hot electron energy distribution which showed a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of around 58 meV, indicating ballistic transport of electrons. Finally, room temperature transistor action was also observed with a β of 4 and a cutoff frequency of 31 GHz