Spontaneous DC Current Generation in a Resistively Shunted Semiconductor Superlattice Driven by a TeraHertz Field

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a resistively shunted semiconductor superlattice exposed to a high-frequency electric field can spontaneously generate a direct current, with potential experimental accessibility and a relation to the Bloch frequency.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical analysis of spontaneous dc current generation in superlattices driven by terahertz fields, considering circuit effects and identifying conditions for current emergence.

Findings

Spontaneous dc bias occurs within specific amplitude and frequency ranges.

The Bloch frequency at the bias is roughly an integer multiple of the ac frequency.

The phenomenon is likely observable in current experimental setups.

Abstract

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 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.