A Compact Current-Transfer Model in Resonant-Tunneling Structures with Consideration of Interelectronic Interaction

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

In this research article having title “Compact current transfer model in resonant-tunneling structures with consideration of interelectronic interaction” the authors report about the estimates of the electron concentration in the quantum well of the heterostructured channel and the self-consistent correction to the resonant levels are obtained. A developed model provides accuracy of distributed models on the whole section of positive differential resistance of the current-voltage characteristics with average relative error for AlGaAs-structures not exceeding 2%, which corresponds to the requirements of design problems of modern radioelectronic devices, in particular, devices for frequency conversion of radio signals for receiving and transmitting systems of various purposes. The results presented in the study are reasonable but the quality of the manuscript can be improved. I recommend the minor revision with following questions.

1.      The abstract should be crisp and focused.

2.      The novelty of the work is questionable as many reports are already available.

3.      In Fig. 3 data curve, what is the importance of additional peak? Please explain its significance.

4.      What is the effect of temperature on I-V curve?

5.      The Figures 5 and 6 are quite blurred please improve the quality of the table it is very hard to read values.

Author Response

Dear Colleague, thank you for review.

1. We rewrote the abstract, trying to make it crisper and more focused.
2. We added information about scientific novelty. Unlike other models of this class, the developed model takes explicit account of interelectronic interaction by introducing a self-consistent nonlinear correction to the resonance levels.
3. As can be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the developed model gives a high level of agreement with the experimental I-V curves in the initial section (the error does not exceed 2%). Also, the developed model allows to significantly reduce the simulation time. However, in the area of negative differential resistance, it has indeed not yet been possible to obtain a plateau area and other "artifacts," including the appearance of additional peaks. This is a subject for further research.
4. The temperature factor is taken into account in the model at the stage of calculating the supply function (to calculate the current density) and the equilibrium distribution of charge carriers in the reservoirs (to calculate the electron concentration in the heterostructural channel).The current-voltage characteristics presented in the paper were measured at a temperature of 300 K, and all calculations were carried out for the same temperature.However, the effect of temperature on the RTD CVC is an important task, including for assessing the CVC kinetics during operation under extreme conditions, when evaluating the test acceleration factor, and when evaluating the reliability indicators of devices with a heterostructural nonlinear element.Therefore, the authors have planned additional studies of the influence of the temperature factor on the CVC of RTDs as part of further work.
5. Figures 5 and 6 are converted to Tables 2 and 3. The quality of the other Figures has also been improved.

Also, our manuscript has been edited by MDPI English editing service (please see the attachment).

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

This manuscript shows an important model. I believe it is attractive. I think this manuscript is acceptable.  However, some modifications are needed.

1. The Figures in manuscript is blurry, the high-resolution images are necessary.

2. Figure.5 and Figure.6 should be rewrote as Tables

3. Language problems

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Author Response

Dear Colleague, thank you for review.

1. We've added higher resolution Figures.
2. Figures 5 and 6 are converted to Tables 2 and 3.
3. Our manuscript has been edited by MDPI English editing service (please see the attachment).

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf