Electric-Field Breakdown of Absolute Negative Conductivity and Supersonic Streams in Two-Dimensional Electron Systems with Zero Resistance/Conductance States

TL;DR

This paper models how strong electric fields and electron-phonon interactions in 2D electron systems lead to current overshoot and breakdown of negative conductivity, affecting zero-resistance states and supersonic electron streams.

Contribution

It introduces a calculation of current-voltage characteristics considering piezoelectric phonon scattering, revealing electric field-induced breakdown of negative conductivity in 2DES.

Findings

Current exhibits an overshoot at high electric fields.

Breakdown of negative conductivity occurs when Hall drift exceeds sound velocity.

Formation of zero-resistance states is affected by this breakdown.

Abstract

We calculate the current-voltage characteristic of a two-dimensional electron system (2DES) subjected to a magnetic field at strong electric fields. The interaction of electrons with piezoelectric acoustic phonons is considered as a major scattering mechanism governing the current-voltage characteristic. It is shown that at a sufficiently strong electric field corresponding to the Hall drift velocity exceeding the velocity of sound, the dissipative current exhibits an overshoot. The overshoot of the dissipative current can result in a breakdown of the absolute negative conductivity caused by microwave irradiation and, therefore, substantially effect the formation of the domain structures with the zero-resistance and zero-conductance states and supersonic electron streams.