Design and fabrication of a very low peak voltage InGaAs/AlAs resonant tunneling diode incorporating a highly strained quantum well

Mohamad Adzhar Md Zawawi; Jagadheswaran Rajendran; M. N. M. Nuzaihan; Nur Zatil ‘Ismah Hashim; Mohd Zamir Pakhuruddin; Shahrir Rizal Kasjoo; Faiz Arith; Mohamed Missous; Siti Fatimah Abd Rahman

Design and fabrication of a very low peak voltage InGaAs/AlAs resonant tunneling diode incorporating a highly strained quantum well

Authors

Mohamad Adzhar Md Zawawi School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Jagadheswaran Rajendran Collaborative Microelectronic Design Excellence Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
M. N. M. Nuzaihan Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 01000 Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia
Nur Zatil ‘Ismah Hashim School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Mohd Zamir Pakhuruddin Institute of Nano Optoelectronics Research and Technology (INOR), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
Shahrir Rizal Kasjoo Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia
Faiz Arith Faculty of Electronics and Computer Technology and Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Durian Tunggal, Melaka, 76100, Malaysia
Mohamed Missous Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, U.K.
Siti Fatimah Abd Rahman School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Keywords:

InGaAs/AlAs, Quantum well, Resonant tunneling diode, THz sources

Abstract

A highly strained quantum-well InGaAs/AlAs resonant tunneling diode (RTD), fabricated using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at a relatively low temperature of 430°C, demonstrated an exceptionally low peak voltage (V_P) of approximately 0.23 V in the forward bias and 0.41 V in the reverse bias at room temperature. The atomic-scale control offered by MBE enabled precise layer growth, leading to an extremely low peak voltage along with high peak current densities of approximately 450 kA/cm² and 790 kA/cm² in the forward and reverse directions, respectively, mainly due to the exceptional interface quality and low series resistance. The MBE-fabricated RTD demonstrated superior scalability and reverse-bias performance compared to metal oxide vapor phase epitaxy-grown counterparts. Here, the process development of a submicrometer InGaAs/AlAs RTD was successfully achieved using standard photolithography, making it well suited for implementation in RTD-based terahertz (THz) sources that require low DC input power.

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Published

12-10-2026

How to Cite

[1]

Mohamad Adzhar Md Zawawi, “Design and fabrication of a very low peak voltage InGaAs/AlAs resonant tunneling diode incorporating a highly strained quantum well”, IJNeaM, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 661–667, Oct. 2026.