Negative differential resistance in aperiodic semiconductor superlattices

Influence of external DC electric field on the electron tunnelling through aperiodic semiconductor superlattices is studied numerically in the framework of generalized Kronig–Penney model and Landauer formalism. Spatial dependence of electron effective mass and dielectric constant as well as band non-parabolicity effects and non-abrupt interfaces are taken into account. Influence of model parameters on the Landauer resistance is investigated. Areas of negative differential resistance are found and presented as two-dimensional grayscale maps.