Nonlinear oscillations and chaotic behavior due to impact lonization of shallow donors in InSb

Both nonlinear oscillations and chaotic behavior in n-InSb are experimentally investigated for the case of impact ionization of shallow donors at low temperatures. Complex behavior including a simple periodic oscillation, a period-doubling route to chaos, and quasiperiodic behavior are observed with increasing electric field as the parameter. For the first time, a type of pitchfork bifurcation (period halving) is seen.