Spontaneous dc Current Generation in a Resistively Shunted Semiconductor Superlattice Driven by a Terahertz Field

Journal Article · Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1998 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.2669· OSTI ID:664835

Alekseev, K N; Cannon, E H; McKinney, J C; Campbell, D K ^[1]; Alekseev, K N; Kusmartsev, F V ^[2]; Alekseev, K N ^[3]; Kusmartsev, F V ^[4]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)
2. NORDITA, Bledgamsvej 17, DK-2100, Copenhagen 0 (Denmark)
3. Theory of Nonlinear Processes Laboratory, Kirensky Institute of Physics, Krasnoyarsk 660036 (Russia)
4. Department of Physics, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU (United Kingdom)

We study a resistively shunted semiconductor superlattice subject to a high-frequency electric field. Using a balance equation approach that incorporates the influence of the electric circuit, we determine numerically a range of amplitude and frequency of the ac field for which a dc bias and current are generated {ital spontaneously} and show that this region is likely accessible to current experiments. Our simulations reveal that the Bloch frequency corresponding to the spontaneous dc bias is approximately an integer multiple of the ac field frequency. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}

• OSTI ID: 664835
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 80, Issue 12; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1998
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
SUPERLATTICES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
DIRECT CURRENT
ELASTIC SCATTERING
SYMMETRY BREAKING
FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY