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arXiv · 0903.2901

Polarization-Induced Zener Tunnel Junctions in Wide-Bandgap Heterostructures

J. Simon·Z. Zhang·K. Goodman·T. Kosel·P. Fay·D. Jena
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Abstract

The large electronic polarization in III-V nitrides allow for novel physics not possible in other semiconductor families. In this work, interband Zener tunneling in wide-bandgap GaN heterojunctions is demonstrated by using polarization-induced electric fields. The resulting tunnel diodes are more conductive under reverse bias, which has applications for zero-bias rectification and mm-wave imaging. Since interband tunneling is traditionally prohibitive in wide-bandgap semiconductors, these polarization-induced structures and their variants can enable a number of devices such as multijunction solar cells that can operate under elevated temperatures and high fields.

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J. Simon, Z. Zhang, K. Goodman, T. Kosel, P. Fay, D. Jena. 2009-03-17. Polarization-Induced Zener Tunnel Junctions in Wide-Bandgap Heterostructures. https://arxiv.org/abs/0903.2901

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