A Physics Based RTD Model Accounting for Space Charge and Phonon Scattering Effects

Abstract

This paper presents a fully analytical model for the current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of Resonant Tunneling Diodes. Based on Tsu-Esaki formalism, we consider the full electrical potential distribution in the structure, including the space charge regions at the emitter and collector layers. In addition, we account for the scattering suffered by carriers when tunneling through the double-barrier region, as a function of the applied bias voltage. These considerations improve the accuracy of the proposed model when compared with other approaches while keeping it physics based and fully analytical. Finally, the model is validated with experimental and numericaldata, demonstrating its feasibility for applications in circuit simulation environments.