Patent ID: 7595500

Claim:
An electron tunneling device comprising: first and second metallic layers spaced apart from one another such that a voltage can be provided across the first and second metallic layers; an insulating arrangement disposed between the first and second metallic layers, said insulating arrangement including a first insulating layer and a second insulating layer that is positioned between the first insulating layer and the second metallic layer, and at least one of the first and second insulating layers consists essentially of an amorphous insulating material, and the metallic layers and the insulating layers are configured to cooperate with one another to exhibit, in an unbiased state of the device with said voltage at zero volts, an overall energy band profile in which said first insulating layer has an unbiased conduction band edge height, and said second insulating layer has a higher unbiased conduction band edge height that is greater than the unbiased conduction band edge height associated with said first insulating layer, and the metallic layers and the insulating arrangement are further configured to cooperate with one another in a reverse bias state responsive to a reverse bias voltage as the provided voltage having a given magnitude, such that the reverse bias voltage causes a reverse electron tunneling, across at least a portion of the insulating arrangement in a reverse direction away from the second metallic layer towards the first metallic layer, that results in a reverse bias current in the reverse direction between the metallic layers, and a forward bias state responsive to a forward bias voltage having said given magnitude at an opposite polarity with respect to the reverse bias voltage, such that said forward bias voltage causes a forward electron tunneling, across at least a portion of the insulating arrangement in a forward direction away from the first metallic layer and towards the second metallic layer, that results in a forward bias current in the forward direction between the metallic layers that is greater in magnitude than the reverse bias current.