Polarization-engineered GaN/InGaN/GaN tunnel diodes

We report on the design and demonstration of polarization-engineered GaN/InGaN/GaN tunnel junction diodes with high current density and low tunneling turn-on voltage. Wentzel–Kramers– Brillouin calculations were used to model and design tunnel junctions with narrow band gap InGaN-based barrier layers. N-polar p-GaN / In0.33Ga0.67N /n-GaN heterostructure tunnel diodes were grown using molecular beam epitaxy. Efficient interband tunneling was achieved close to zero bias with a high current density of 118 A /cm2 at a reverse bias of 1 V, reaching a maximum current density up to 9.2 kA /cm2. These results represent the highest current density reported in III-nitride tunnel junctions and demonstrate the potential of III-nitride tunnel devices for a broad range of optoelectronic and electronic applications. © 2010 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3517481