D.c. drift and hot carrier effects on E.M. wave propagation in a current carrying bismuth2

This paper presents an investigation of d.c. drift and hot carrier effects on electromagnetic wave propagation in current carrying bismuth when the directions of the d.c. electric field, static magnetic field and of the propagation of waves are all along the trigonal axis. The anisotropic band structure and mass tensor of carriers have been taken into account. A generalised dispersion relation has been derived for a bismuth sample with arbitrary compensation. The enhanced heating of the carriers with a d.c. electric field causes a progressive decrease in the refractive index and the absorption coefficient; this effect is more pronounced in the case of upper band microwaves. The heating of the electrons is reduced by the presence of a static magnetic field while that of the holes is unchanged. The hot carrier effects in Faraday rotation and ellipticity for high frequency waves in bismuth have also been investigated.