| Abstract: | The semiclassical motion of an electron along the axis of a superlattice may be calculated from the miniband dispersion curve. Under a weak electric field the electron executes Bloch oscillations which confines the motion along the superlattice axis. When a magnetic field, tilted with respect to the superlattice axis, is applied the electron orbits become chaotic. The onset of chaos is characterised by a complex mixed stable-chaotic phase space and an extension of the orbital trajectories along the superlattice axis. This delocalisation of the orbits is also reflected in the quantum eigenstates of the system some of which show well-defined patterns of high probability density whose shapes resemble certain semiclassical orbits. This suggests that the onset of chaos will be manifest in electron transport through a finite superlattice. We also propose that these phenomena may be observable in the motion of trapped ultra-cold atoms in an optically induced superlattice potential and magnetic quadrupole potential whose axis is tilted relative to the superlattice axis. |
