Extension of Tsu-Esaki model for effective mass effects in resonant tunneling

The Tsu-Esaki model for resonant tunneling is extended to include the effects of differing in-plane masses in the emitter and well. The improvement produces features in the current versus voltage characteristic previously thought to require a much higher level of theoretical sophistication. The interband tunneling case can for the first time also be included in this simple and convenient framework. Calculations demonstrate that the first order contribution to the magnitude of the negative resistance is due to the mass difference, even when the same semiconductor is used in the emitter and well. A simple analytical SPICE-compatible I(V) formula is also derived.