Resonant tunneling in a transverse magnetic field: Transition from the electric to the magnetic quantum limit

Abstract

Resonant tunneling of electrons through a wide quantum well is quenched in a strong transverse magnetic field. In weak magnetic fields the resonances in the current weaken and shift, while in strong magnetic fields these quantum-well resonances disappear and a new series of resonances appears at low bias. We show that these new resonances correspond to states which are bound to the first barrier and have comparable amplitude on either side of the barrier. Good agreement is found with a numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation in the barrier region.