Stochastic Carrier Dynamics in Semiconductor Superlattices

• Authors: T Fromhold , S. Bujkiewicz , A. Patanè , S Stapleton , D. Sherwood , D. Fowler , J. Cooper , L. Eaves , A Belyaev , A Krokhin , A. Neumann , P Wilkinson , N Sankeshwar , M. Henini , F Sheard
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

We explore a new regime of hot carrier dynamics, in which electrons in a superlattice miniband exhibit a unique type of stochastic motion when a magnetic field is tilted at an angleθ to the superlattice axis. Remarkably, the dynamics of a miniband electron in a tilted magnetic field reduce to a one-dimensional simple harmonic oscillator, of angular frequencyω_C cosθ, whereω_C is the cyclotron frequency, driven by a time-dependent plane wave whose angular frequency equals the Bloch frequencyω_B. At bias voltages for whichω_B=nω_C cosθ, where n is an integer, the electron orbits change from localised Bloch-like trajectories to unbounded stochastic orbits, which diffuse rapidly through intricate web patterns in phase space. To quantify how these webs affect electron transport, we make drift-diffusion calculations of the current-voltage curves including the effects of space-charge build up. When the magnetic field is tilted, our simulations reveal a large resonant peak, which originates from stochastic delocalisation of the electron orbits. We show that the corresponding quantised eigenstates change discontinuously from a highly localised character when the system is off resonance to a fully delocalised form when the resonance condition is satisfied.

Keywords

EN

73.20.At; 73.21.Cd

Discipline

• 73.20.At: Surface states, band structure, electron density of states
• 73.21.Cd: Superlattices

• Publisher: Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Acta Physica Polonica A
• Year: 2006
• Volume: 109
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 43-52

Dates

published

2006-01

received

2005-05-19

Contributors

author

T Fromhold

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

S. Bujkiewicz

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

A. Patanè

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

S Stapleton

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

D. Sherwood

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

D. Fowler

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

J. Cooper

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

L. Eaves

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

A Belyaev

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

A Krokhin

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
• Instituto de Fisica, Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Puebla 72570, Mexico
• Center for Nonlinear Science, University of North Texas, P.O. Box 5368, Denton, Texas 762203, USA

author

A. Neumann

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

P Wilkinson

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

N Sankeshwar

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

M. Henini

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

author

F Sheard

• School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

References

• 1. For a review see H.-J. Stöckmann, Quantum Chaos - An Introduction, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000
• 2. C.M. Marcus, A.J. Rimberg, R.M. Westervelt, P.F. Hopkins, A.C. Gossard, Phys. Rev. Lett., 69, 506, 1992
• 3. R. Fleischmann, T. Geisel, R. Ketzmerick, Phys. Rev. Lett., 68, 1367, 1992; D. Weiss, K. Richter, A. Menschig, R. Bergmann, H. Schweizer, K. von Klitzing, G. Weimann, Phys. Rev. Lett., 70, 4118, 1993
• 4. A.M. Chang, H.U. Baranger, L.N. Pfeiffer, K.W. West, Phys. Rev. Lett., 73, 2111, 1994
• 5. Y.H. Zhang, J. Kastrup, R. Klann, K.H. Ploog, H.T. Grahn, Phys. Rev. Lett., 77, 3001, 1996
• 6. R.P. Taylor, R. Newbury, A.S. Sachrajda, Y. Feng, P.T. Coleridge, C. Dettmann, N. Zhu, H. Guo, A. Delage, P.J. Kelly, Z. Wasilewski, Phys. Rev. Lett., 78, 1952, 1997
• 7. A.S. Sachrajda, R. Ketzmerick, C. Gould, Y. Feng, P.J. Kelly, A. Delage, Z. Wasilewski, Phys. Rev. Lett., 80, 1948, 1998
• 8. J.P. Bird, R. Akis, D.K. Ferry, D. Vasileska, J. Cooper, Y. Aoyagi, T. Sugano, Phys. Rev. Lett., 82, 4691, 1999
• 9. Y. Takagaki, K.H. Ploog, Phys. Rev. B, 61, 4457, 2000
• 10. T. Blomquist, I.V. Zozoulenko, Phys. Rev. B, 64, 195301, 2001
• 11. W.E. Bies, L. Kaplan, M.R. Haggerty, E.J. Heller, Phys. Rev. E, 63, 066214, 2001; W.E. Bies, L. Kaplan, E.J. Heller, Phys. Rev. E, 64, 016204, 2001
• 12. A.P.S. de Moura, Y.-C. Lai, R. Akis, J.P. Bird, D.K. Ferry, Phys. Rev. Lett., 88, 236804, 2002
• 13. O.M. Bulashenko, L.L. Bonilla, Phys. Rev. B, 52, 7849, 1995
• 14. K. Alekseev, G.P. Bermady, D.K. Campbell, E.H. Cannon, M.C. Cargo, Phys. Rev. B, 54, 10625, 1996
• 15. E. Schöll, A. Wacker, in: Springer Proceedings in Physics, Vol. 79, Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation in Semiconductors and Devices, Ed. F.-J. Niedernestheide, Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1995, p. 21
• 16. T.M. Fromhold, L. Eaves, F.W. Sheard, M.L. Leadbeater, T.J. Foster, P.C. Main, Phys. Rev. Lett., 72, 2608, 1994; P.B. Wilkinson, F.W. Sheard, L. Eaves, J. Miao, G. Edwards, Phys. Rev. Lett., 75, 1142, 1995
• 17. D.L. Shepelyansky, A.D. Stone, Phys. Rev. Lett., 74, 2098, 1995
• 18. P.B. Wilkinson, T.M. Fromhold, L.Eaves, F.W. Sheard, N. Miura, T. Takamasu, Nature, 380, 608, 1996
• 19. For a review see G.M. Zaslavsky, R.Z. Sagdeev, D.A. Usikov, A.A. Chemikov, Weak Chaos and Quasi-Regular Patterns, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1991
• 20. V.Ya. Demikhovskii, D.I. Kamenev, G.A. Luna-Acosta, Phys. Rev. B, 52, 3351, 1995; Phys. Rev. B, 59, 294, 1999
• 21. T.M. Fromhold, A.A. Krokhin, C.R. Tench, S. Bujkiewicz, P.B. Wilkinson, F.W. Sheard, L. Eaves, Phys. Rev. Lett., 87, 046803, 2001
• 22. A. Patanè, D. Sherwood, L. Eaves, T.M. Fromhold, M. Henini, P.C. Main, G. Hill, Appl. Phys. Lett., 81, 661, 2002
• 23. L. Esaki, R. Tsu, IBM J. Res. Dev., 14, 61, 1970
• 24. H.J. Hutchinson, A.W. Higgs, D.C. Herbert, G.W. Smith, J. Appl. Phys., 75, 320, 1994
• 25. L. Canali, M. Lazzarino, L. Sorba, F. Beltram, Phys. Rev. Lett., 76, 3618, 1996
• 26. T.M. Fromhold, A. Patanè, S. Bujkiewicz, P.B. Wilkinson, D. Fowler, D. Shearwood, S.P. Stapleton, A.A. Krokhin, L. Eaves, M. Henini, N.S. Sankeshwar, F.W. Sheard, Nature, 428, 726, 2004
• 27. P.B. Wilkinson, T.M. Fromhold, Opt. Lett., 28, 1034, 2003

Identifiers

DOI

10.12693/APhysPolA.109.43