Effect of buffer quality on the performance of InAs/AlSb Heterostructure Backward Tunneling Diode

InAs/AlSb Heterostructure Backward Tunneling Diodes (HBTDs) were grown on semi-insulating GaAs (100) substrate using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The current-voltage characteristics of the InAs/AlSb HBTDs, both at room temperatures (RT) and cryogenic temperatures, have been studied as a function of the InAs buffer thickness. It has been found that a thicker InAs buffer doesn't improve the surface roughness but decreases the threading dislocation (TD) density, thus a higher curvature coefficient in the current-voltage characteristics near zero-bias is obtained.