Noise-created bistability and stochastic resonance of impurities diffusing in a semiconductor layer

TL;DR

This paper explores how thermal noise and temperature gradients influence impurity dynamics in semiconductors, revealing noise-induced bistability and stochastic resonance phenomena that could help control impurity behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a model for impurity motion under thermal noise and temperature gradients, demonstrating noise-induced bistability and stochastic resonance in semiconductor layers.

Findings

Thermal noise can induce bistability in impurity dynamics.

Temperature gradients modify the effective potential landscape.

Stochastic resonance enhances impurity response to external signals.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of impurities walking along a semiconductor layer assisted by thermal noise of strength $D$ and external harmonic potential $V(x)$. Applying a nonhomogeneous hot temperature in the vicinity of the potential minimum may modify the external potential into a bistable effective potential. We propose the ways of mobilizing and eradicating the unwanted impurities along the semiconductor layer. Furthermore, the thermally activated rate of hopping for the impurities as a function of the model parameters is studied in high barrier limit. Via two state approximation, we also study the stochastic resonance (SR) of the impurities dynamics where the same noise source that induces the dynamics also induces the transition from mono-stable to bistable state which leads to SR in the presence of time varying field.