The resonant-tunneling field-effect transistor: A new negative transconductance device

A new field-effect transistor with a resonant-tunneling barrier in the gate is presented. The gate and the drain currents versus gate voltage exhibit peaks when the resonant-tunneling gate current is quenched. Thus, in addition to negative differential resistance, this structure also exhibits negative transconductance, a unique feature in an n-channel device. Also, by proper gate bias, the same resonance of the double barrier can be used to produce two peaks in the drain current versus drain voltage characteristic at nearly the same current level. This is a very desirable feature for many applications.