Resonant spectroscopy of electric-field-induced superlattices

A system of interdigital gates is used to create a periodic potential profile in a multilayer heterostructure. The electrostatic problem for the spatial distribution of the potential is solved and experimentally examined by measurements of current-voltage characteristics of resonant-tunnelling diodes embedded in the depletion region of the Schottky contact. It is shown that the position of the resonant peak voltage is sensitive to the spatial potential distribution and that with appropriate parameters of the heterostructure the sensitivity of the gates can be considerably enhanced. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics