Transport in transverse magnetic fields in resonant tunneling structures

We report measurements on the magnetotunneling characteristics of a high-quality bistable double-barrier resonant tunneling device in magnetic fields transverse to the tunneling direction. The transverse magnetic field B causes complex, nonmonotonic shifts in the position of the resonant current peak in the I(V) curve. The resonant peak is also strongly broadened by B, and the peak current is suppressed. The intrinsic bistability of the device is quenched for B>5 T. We explain these effects by invoking the magnetic-field-induced change in transverse momentum k as electrons tunnel into the well. The change k alters both the tunneling supply function and the tunneling probability for a given alignment of the resonant subband and the emitter electrode. Self-consistent calculations based on this model reproduce the complex behavior of resonant peak position and explain the experimentally observed magnetic-field effects.