Dynamic instability in resonant tunneling

Abstract

We show that an instability may be present in resonant tunneling through a quantum well in one, two and three dimensions, when the resonance lies near the emitter Fermi level. A simple semiclassical model which simulates the resonance and the projected density of states by a nonlinear conductor, the Coulomb barrier by a capacitance, and the time evolution by an iterated map, is used. The model reproduces the observed hysteresis in such devices, and exhibits a series of bifurcations leading to fast chaotic current fluctuations.