Tunneling Processes in a Triangular Multibarrier Semiconductor Heterostructure

The study of the kinetics of tunneling represents an important topic related to the development of high-speed electronic devices. In this paper, we analyze the resonant-tunneling lifetime of different arrangements, with the aim of comparing the responses of rectangular and triangular multibarrier semiconductor heterostructures (GaAs/AlGaAs). The results indicate that the introduction of a triangular profile induces an average escape rate that is three times greater than that obtained by using a rectangular profile (on the order of Hz). This result is independent of the number of barriers in the device. To our knowledge, it is the first time that the escape rate from triangular multibarrier structures is calculated, allowing high-speed devices to be optimized.