Origin of the electrical instabilities in GaN/AlGaN double-barrier structure

The effect of the temperature on the electrical characteristics in GaN-based resonant tunneling diodes is studied both theoretically and experimentally. At room temperature, the current-voltage measurements show reproducible negative differential resistances and a current hysteresis. However these features disappear when the temperature is decreased down to 100 K. In addition, the current exhibits transients over a few tenths of seconds which effect disappears at low temperatures. Based on these results, we conclude that the observed negative differential resistance at room temperature is not due to electron resonant tunneling but to trap charging and release. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3645011]