Silicon interband tunneling diodes with high peak-to-valley ratios

Current density-voltage characteristics of Si p+-i-n+ interband tunneling diodes are presented. The diodes were fabricated by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy. Very high and abrupt p- and n-type dopant transitions into the 1020 cm− 3 ranges are achieved by boron and antimony, respectively. The Esaki structures are realized without a post growth annealing step. The silicon Esaki diodes show negative differential resistance with excellent peak to valley current ratios up to 5.3. An increase of the width of the tunneling barrier results in a dramatic decrease of the peak current density. 10 nm additional Si changes the current over more than 6 decades.