Carrier dynamics and dispersive terahertz Bloch gain in semiconductor superlattices

We have directly determined the spectral shape of the complex conductivities of Bloch oscillating electrons by using time-domain terahertz (THz)-electrooptic sampling technique and presented an experimental evidence for a dispersive Bloch gain in superlattices. This unique dispersive gain without population inversion arises from a non-classical nature of Bloch oscillations; i.e., the phase of the Bloch oscillation is shifted by π/2 from that of the semi-classical charged harmonic oscillation when driven by the same AC field. By increasing the bias electric field, the gain bandwidth reached in our particular sample.     

Microwave oscillator based on Bloch oscillations of electrons in a semiconductor superlattice

We report on a microwave oscillator based on Bloch oscillations of electrons in a semiconductor superlattice. Our GaAs/AlAs superlattice, at room temperature, was coupled electromagnetically by an antenna to a rectangular cavity resonator, and was operated at a current-voltage state of negative differential conductance. We observed generation of microwave radiation at frequencies, depending on the resonator length, between 7 and 30 GHz. Electronic tuning by several percent was possible; the ratio of linewidth to frequency was of the order of 10^?4. A radiation power up to 1 μW (at 10 GHz) was obtained, corresponding to a generator efficiency of the order of 10^?3 for the conversion of electrical power to microwave radiation.     

Loss and gain in Bloch oscillating super-superlattices: THz Stark ladder spectroscopy

Bloch oscillation in electrically biased semiconductor superlattices offer broadband terahertz gain from DC up to the Bloch frequency or Stark splitting. Useful gain up to 2–3 THz can provide a basis for solid-state electronic oscillators operating at 10 times the frequency of existing devices.A major stumbling block is the inherent instability of the electrically biased doped superlattices to the formation of static or dynamic electric field domains. To circumvent this, we have fabricated super-superlattices in which a large superlattice is punctuated with heavily doped regions. The short superlattice sections have subcritical “nL” products.Room temperature, terahertz photon-assisted transport in short InGaAs/InAlAs superlattice cells allows us to determine the Stark ladder splitting as the superlattice is electrically biased and confirms the absence of electric field domains in short structures.Absorption of radiation from 1.5 to 2.5 THz by electrically biased InAs/AlSb super-superlattices exhibit a crossover from loss to gain as the Stark ladder is opened. Measurements are carried out at room temperature in a novel planar terahertz waveguide defined by photonic band gap sidewalls and loaded with an array of electrically biased super-superlattices. The frequency-dependent crossover voltage indicates 80% participation of the super-superlattice.     

Frequency multiplication of microwave radiation in a semiconductor superlattice by electrons capable to perform Bloch oscillations

We report the observation of frequency multiplication of microwave radiation in a GaAs/AlAs semiconductor superlattice at room temperature. We observed, for a fundamental frequency of 9 GHz, second and third harmonic generation. We associate the harmonic generation with a nonlinear current-voltage characteristic that is determined by Bloch oscillations of electrons propagating along the superlattice axis. Our results suggest for the frequency multiplication an upper limit in the tetrahertz frequency range.     

Enhancement of terahertz radiation in a Smith-Purcell backward-wave oscillator by an inverse wet-etched grating

A terahertz (THz) Smith-Purcell (SP) backward-wave oscillator with an inverse wet-etched grating based on silicon has been proposed to enhance radiation intensity. This grating strengthens the interactions between an electron beam and the evanescent wave due to the adjacent surface structure between gratings that improves the magnitude of the electric field up to 1.7 times compared to the conventional rectangular gratings. A two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation shows that the radiated power is increased up to 2.3 times higher at the radiated frequency of 0.66 THz for an electron-beam energy of 30 keV.     

随机激励下二自由度碰撞振动系统的响应分析

研究了一类二自由度碰撞振动系统在随机噪声激励下的响应问题.展示了这种非光滑系统在倍周期分岔通向混沌的道路中存在的擦边分岔行为.通过定义一种随机响应的度量,讨论了随机噪声对于系统响应的影响,并发现在某些参数条件下,随机噪声对于系统响应的影响是明显的,甚至改变了运动的性质.数值模拟表明此法是研究噪声激励下非光滑系统响应的一种有效方法. 关键词： 非光滑系统 二自由度碰撞振动系统 擦边分岔 倍周期分岔     

Transport in a shunted surface superlattice with a perpendicular magnetic field

We experimentally investigate the transport through a shunted surface superlattice under the influence of a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the current direction. The current–voltage characteristics of these surface superlattices exhibit a peak which is followed by a wide region of negative differential resistance. The application of a transverse magnetic field has a profound influence on the position and height of this peak. The recorded shifts are compared to the predictions of different superlattice transport theories. Since these theories predict a different dependence on the magnetic field strength, the transport mechanism in the surface superlattice structures can be uniquely determined.     

THz-field induced nonlinear transport and dc voltage generation in a semiconductor superlattice due to Bloch oscillations

We report on a theoretical analysis of terahertz (THz-) field induced nonlinear dynamics of electrons in a semiconductor superlattice that are capable to perform Bloch oscillations. Our results suggest that for a strong THz-field a dc voltage should be generated. We have analyzed the real-time dynamics using a balance equation approach to describe the electron transport in a superlattice miniband. Taking account of both Bloch oscillations of electrons in a superlattice miniband and dissipation, we studied the influence of a strong THz-field on currently available superlattices at room temperature. We found that a THz-field can lead to a negative conductance resulting in turn in a THz-field induced dc voltage, and that the voltage per superlattice period should show, for varying amplitue of the THz-field, a form of wisted plateaus with the middle points being with high precision equal to the photon energy divided by the electron charge. We show voltage to the finite voltage state, and that in the finite voltage state dynamic localization of the electrons in a miniband occurs.     

Electronic Bloch oscillation in a pristine monolayer graphene

In a pristine monolayer graphene subjected to a constant electric field along the layer, the Bloch oscillation of an electron is studied in a simple and efficient way. By using the electronic dispersion relation, the formula of a semi-classical velocity is derived analytically, and then many aspects of Bloch oscillation, such as its frequency, amplitude, as well as the direction of the oscillation, are investigated. It is interesting to find that the electric field affects the component of motion, which is non-collinear with electric field, and leads the particle to be accelerated or oscillated in another component.     

一种新型结构低阻抗渡越辐射振荡器

 设计了一种不加栅网结构的低阻抗渡越辐射振荡器器件,器件阻抗为20 Ω左右,采用同轴输出,具有所需导引磁场小、起振时间较快等优点,可望工作在重频和长脉冲状态。PIC粒子模拟表明,在输入电压和电流分别为550 kV和27.6 kA、约束磁场为0.8 T的条件下,在S波段3.175 GHz得到了平均功率大约4.0 GW的微波输出,束-波转换效率为26.4%。     

磁绝缘线振荡器中空间电荷的辐射

 研究了磁绝缘线振荡器中空间电荷的辐射。结果包括：导出了线性区的增益公式，所得到的增益函数相对于同步失配是对称的；导出了饱和区的辐射场公式，这个公式表明，饱和辐射功率近似地与谐波电流的平方成正比。这些理论结果部分地由数值模拟证实。     

Optical Bloch Oscillations of a Dual Airy Beam

We investigate the propagation of a dual Airy beam in Hermitian and non‐Hermitian waveguides, theoretically and numerically. Optical Bloch oscillations (OBOs) of the beam are demonstrated during propagation in both types of waveguides, and the numerical OBO period is found to be in accordance with the theoretical predictions. The two branches of the dual Airy beam do not display translational symmetry — the peaks will form in one branch only, due to the desynchronized Bragg reflection of the lobes. In the non‐Hermitian waveguides, the dual Airy beam will be damped or amplified during propagation — depending on the imaginary part of the complex potential, which may provide loss or gain to the beam. In the ‐symmetric‐like potential, the dual Airy beam may undergo amplification during propagation, but the total power will exhibit a stair‐like behavior. The non‐reciprocity is also exhibited by the dual Airy beam in such a potential. We believe that our research not only provides a new geometry for optical switches but also deepens the understanding of OBO in dual Airy beams.     

磁绝缘线振荡器中空间电荷的辐射

研究了磁绝缘线振荡器中空间电荷的辐射。结果包括：导出了线性区的增益公式,所得到的增益函数相对于同步失配是对称的;导出了饱和区的辐射场公式,这个公式表明,饱和辐射功率近似地与谐波电流的平方成正比。这些理论结果部分地由数值模拟证实。     

速调型相对论返波管理论研究

对速调型相对论返波管慢波结构色散特性及束波相互作用进行了理论研究。色散特性研究表明:器件工作模式为TM01模,近点,耦合阻抗较高。色散特性预测的工作频率与粒子模拟结果非常接近。慢波结构峰值增长率相对较小,这与电子束与慢波结构相距较大有关,因而器件从起振到饱和的时间较长。在束波相互作用理论中,全面考虑了电子束与慢波结构前向波基波、反向波－1次空间谐波及空间电荷场相互作用、谐振反射器对电子束进行的束流调制和能量调制作用,以及调制腔和提取腔处引入的耦合阻抗及轴向波数突变。稳态和非稳态计算结果均获得了超过40%的束波转换效率。     

Electromagnetic Bloch oscillation in one-dimensional multiple microcavities composed of metamaterials

We propose a photonic structure stacked sequentially by one-dimensional photonic crystals and cavities. The whole structure is composed of single-negative and double-negative materials. The optical Wannier-Stark ladder （WSL） can be obtained in a low frequency region by modulating the widths of the cavities in order. We simulate the dynamical behavior of the electromagnetic wave passing through the proposed photonic structure. Due to the dispersive characteristics of the metamaterials, a very narrow WSL can be obtained. The long-period electromagnetic Bloch oscillation is demonstrated theoretically to have a period on a microsecond time scale.     

速调型相对论返波管理论研究

对速调型相对论返波管慢波结构色散特性及束波相互作用进行了理论研究。色散特性研究表明：器件工作模式为TM01模,近点,耦合阻抗较高。色散特性预测的工作频率与粒子模拟结果非常接近。慢波结构峰值增长率相对较小,这与电子束与慢波结构相距较大有关,因而器件从起振到饱和的时间较长。在束波相互作用理论中,全面考虑了电子束与慢波结构前向波基波、反向波－1次空间谐波及空间电荷场相互作用、谐振反射器对电子束进行的束流调制和能量调制作用,以及调制腔和提取腔处引入的耦合阻抗及轴向波数突变。稳态和非稳态计算结果均获得了超过40%的束波转换效率。     

A Near-Resonance Solution to the Bloch Equations and Its Application to RF Pulse Design

A near-resonance expansion of the solution to the Bloch equations in the presence of a radiofrequency (RF) pulse is presented in this paper. The first-order approximation explicitly demonstrates the nonlinear nature of the Bloch equations and precisely relates the excitation profile with the RF pulse when the flip angle is less than π/2. As an application of this solution, we present a procedure for designing RF pulses to generate symmetric excitation profiles with arbitrary shapes for new encoding approaches such as wavelet encoding.     

Q-band injection-locked gunn diode oscillator

The configuration and performance of a Q-band injection-locked Gunn oscillator are presented whose outport is connected with a phase-locked reference source by a circulator. The output power of the oscillator is more than 60mW at 46.1GHz. The single-sideband phase noise (SSB) is less than-71.7dBc/Hz offset 10KHz from the carrier, and the spectrum of clutter signal is less than -40dB.     

Quasiclassical Describing of the Bloch Oscillation in a Superlattice by Fokker-Planck Equation

A theoretical study of Bloch electron transport in a superlattice miniband driven by an electric field parallel to the growth axis is carried out, by Fokker-Planck equation (FPE) in momentum space with the averaged momentum relaxation time (γ) approximation. Steadystate drift-velocity/field characteristics exhibit the expected maximum followed by negative differential conductivity (NDC), and then followed by drift-velocity oscillation when γ or electric field is large. The oscillation frequency is an increasing function of γ, and when γ → ∞, the limit of the oscillation frequency is the Bloch frequency as expected.     

径向三腔渡越时间振荡器数值模拟

 基于渡越辐射机理结合径向结构的低阻抗特性,提出了一种新型的低阻抗高功率微波器件——径向三腔渡越时间振荡器,它由3个等间距的边耦合同轴腔组成,径向运动电子束与谐振腔中的角向均匀模式场相互作用。采用PIC粒子模拟程序进行了模拟研究。在电子束能量450 keV、束流60 kA且无外加引导磁场的条件下,当结构参数网长为4.8 cm,腔间距为1.4 cm,电子发射面为0.8 cm,内径为8 cm时,获得了平均功率7.4 GW,频率4.1 GHz的微波输出,效率达27.4%,阻抗7.5 Ω。通过粒子模拟给出了束波互作用效率随电子束电压、电流以及谐振腔间距的变化曲线,电子束电压对输出微波频率的影响曲线以及不同谐振频率与最佳谐振腔间距的对应曲线,这些曲线表明该器件具有渡越时间效应的基本特征,属于渡越辐射器件,且具有对电子束质量要求不高的特点。