Absolute negative conductivity and spontaneous current generation in semiconductor superlattices with hot electrons
We study transport through a semiconductor superlattice with an electric field parallel to and a magnetic field perpendicular to the growth axis. Using a semiclassical balance equation model with elastic and inelastic scattering, we find that (1) the current-voltage characteristic becomes multistable in a large magnetic field and (2) "hot" electrons display novel features in their current-voltage characteristics, including absolute negative conductivity and a spontaneous dc current at zero bias. We discuss experimental situations providing hot electrons to observe these effects.
Cannon
EH
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Kusmartsev
FV
Alekseev
KN
Campbell
DK