Photon-assisted breakdown, negative resistance, and switching in a quantum-well transistor laser

A. James, G. Walter, M. Feng, N. Holonyak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Data are presented on the transistor laser with collector bias and photon-assisted tunneling causing, under the constraints IE+I B+IC=0 (α=ΔIC/ΔIE) and α → 1, breakdown and negative resistance effects in the IĆ-VCE characteristics. Collector bias, aided by photon-assisted tunneling (Franz - Keldysh absorption), supplies holes to the n-p-n transistor base by tunneling escape of electrons (ΔIB=0), "feeding" quantum-well recombination radiation (generation and regeneration, ΔIE=ΔIC=ΔIhv) and yielding the negative resistance/switching condition α → 1 (α=ΔIC/ΔIE, ΔIC =ΔIE, ΔIB=0, IE+I B+IC=0), and, as a consequence, corners, negative resistance, switching, vertical collector current (ΔVCE≈ 0), spectral change, and mode hopping effects in the IC-VCE characteristics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number152109
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume90
Issue number15
DOIs
StatePublished - 2007

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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