A new equivalent circuit is derived for the double‐barrier resonant tunneling diode. An essential feature of this circuit is the addition of an inductance in series with the differential conductanceGof the device. The magnitude of the inductance is &tgr;N/Gwhere &tgr;Nis the lifetime of the (Nth) quasibound state through which all of the conduction current is assumed to flow. This circuit model is used to derive values of theoretical oscillator power that are in much better agreement with experimental results than theoretical predictions made without the inductance. The conclusion is drawn that the response of the double‐barrier structure to a time varying potential is consistent with the coherent picture of resonant tunneling.