A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducer
We study experimentally and theoretically the effects of high-frequency strain pulse trains on the charge transport in a weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice. In a frequency range of the order of 100 GHz such excitation may be considered as single harmonic hypersonic excitation. While travellin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2015-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/8/083064 |
| _version_ | 1797751077393661952 |
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| author | C L Poyser A V Akimov A G Balanov R P Campion A J Kent |
| author_facet | C L Poyser A V Akimov A G Balanov R P Campion A J Kent |
| author_sort | C L Poyser |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We study experimentally and theoretically the effects of high-frequency strain pulse trains on the charge transport in a weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice. In a frequency range of the order of 100 GHz such excitation may be considered as single harmonic hypersonic excitation. While travelling along the axis of the SL, the hypersonic acoustic wavepacket affects the electron tunnelling, and thus governs the electrical current through the device. We reveal how the change of current depends on the parameters of the hypersonic excitation and on the bias applied to the superlattice. We have found that the changes in the transport properties of the superlattices caused by the acoustic excitation can be largely explained using the current–voltage relation of the unperturbed system. Our experimental measurements show multiple peaks in the dependence of the transferred charge on the repetition rate of the strain pulses in the train. We demonstrate that these resonances can be understood in terms of the spectrum of the applied acoustic perturbation after taking into account the multiple reflections in the metal film serving as a generator of hypersonic excitation. Our findings suggest an application of the semiconductor superlattice as a hypersonic-electrical transducer, which can be used in various microwave devices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:42:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-17b6ea85c4b94c45800f935c26ee83d1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:42:11Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-17b6ea85c4b94c45800f935c26ee83d12023-08-08T14:22:45ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302015-01-0117808306410.1088/1367-2630/17/8/083064A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducerC L Poyser0A V Akimov1A G Balanov2R P Campion3A J Kent4School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park , Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park , Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UKDepartment of Physics, Loughborough University , Loughborough, LE11 3TU, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park , Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UKSchool of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, University Park , Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UKWe study experimentally and theoretically the effects of high-frequency strain pulse trains on the charge transport in a weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice. In a frequency range of the order of 100 GHz such excitation may be considered as single harmonic hypersonic excitation. While travelling along the axis of the SL, the hypersonic acoustic wavepacket affects the electron tunnelling, and thus governs the electrical current through the device. We reveal how the change of current depends on the parameters of the hypersonic excitation and on the bias applied to the superlattice. We have found that the changes in the transport properties of the superlattices caused by the acoustic excitation can be largely explained using the current–voltage relation of the unperturbed system. Our experimental measurements show multiple peaks in the dependence of the transferred charge on the repetition rate of the strain pulses in the train. We demonstrate that these resonances can be understood in terms of the spectrum of the applied acoustic perturbation after taking into account the multiple reflections in the metal film serving as a generator of hypersonic excitation. Our findings suggest an application of the semiconductor superlattice as a hypersonic-electrical transducer, which can be used in various microwave devices.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/8/083064coherent phononssuperlatticeselectron transporthigh frequencyacoustics |
| spellingShingle | C L Poyser A V Akimov A G Balanov R P Campion A J Kent A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducer New Journal of Physics coherent phonons superlattices electron transport high frequency acoustics |
| title | A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducer |
| title_full | A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducer |
| title_fullStr | A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducer |
| title_full_unstemmed | A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducer |
| title_short | A weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic-electrical transducer |
| title_sort | weakly coupled semiconductor superlattice as a harmonic hypersonic electrical transducer |
| topic | coherent phonons superlattices electron transport high frequency acoustics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/8/083064 |
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