{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/30874"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/30874","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Nonlinear transport in semiconductor superlattices","abstract":"\"We develop a semiclassical balance equation model for transport through a single miniband of a semiconductor superlattice subject to a spatially uniform, time-dependent external electric field and/or a constant external magnetic field. The balance equations are derived from the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation and include energy and momentum relaxation. They also incorporate the self-consistent electric field generated by electron motion. In a temporally periodic external electric field, the applied magnetic field and the self-consistent electric field lead to novel nonlinear transport phenomena such as dissipative chaos and, in the absence of an external bias, symmetry-breaking. This symmetry-breaking leads to a spontaneously generated bias that often approximately satisfies a phase-locking condition corresponding to resonant photon absorption in the Wannier-Stark ladder resulting from the spontaneous bias. The current-voltage characteristic without time-dependent driving exhibits multistability for sufficiently large magnetic or self-consistent electric fields, and spontaneous current generation at zero bias is predicted for certain nonequilibrium \"\"hot\"\" electrons. We examine several limiting cases of this model to guide our studies of the general set of balance equations. We also develop clear physical intuition for, and consider the possible experimental signatures of, the novel transport properties predicted by our theoretical studies.\"","abstract_html":""We develop a semiclassical balance equation model for transport through a single miniband of a semiconductor superlattice subject to a spatially uniform, time-dependent external electric field and/or a constant external magnetic field. The balance equations are derived from the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation and include energy and momentum relaxation. They also incorporate the self-consistent electric field generated by electron motion. In a temporally periodic external electric field, the applied magnetic field and the self-consistent electric field lead to novel nonlinear transport phenomena such as dissipative chaos and, in the absence of an external bias, symmetry-breaking. This symmetry-breaking leads to a spontaneously generated bias that often approximately satisfies a phase-locking condition corresponding to resonant photon absorption in the Wannier-Stark ladder resulting from the spontaneous bias. The current-voltage characteristic without time-dependent driving exhibits multistability for sufficiently large magnetic or self-consistent electric fields, and spontaneous current generation at zero bias is predicted for certain nonequilibrium ""hot"" electrons. We examine several limiting cases of this model to guide our studies of the general set of balance equations. We also develop clear physical intuition for, and consider the possible experimental signatures of, the novel transport properties predicted by our theoretical studies."","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cannon, Ethan Harrison"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Physics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Campbell, D.K."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-05-18T18:45:56Z","date_published":"2012-05-18T18:45:56Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:29Z","subjects":["semiconductor superlattices","Boltzmann type transport equation"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["©1999 Ethan Harrison Cannon"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["4272871"],"render_values":[{"text":"4272871","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/30874","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Campbell, D.K."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cannon, Ethan Harrison"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012-05-18T18:45:56Z","10000-01-01","1999"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation / Thesis","text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["semiconductor superlattices","Boltzmann type transport equation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["©1999 Ethan Harrison Cannon"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["4272871","http://hdl.handle.net/2142/30874"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["\"We develop a semiclassical balance equation model for transport through a single miniband of a semiconductor superlattice subject to a spatially uniform, time-dependent external electric field and/or a constant external magnetic field. The balance equations are derived from the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation and include energy and momentum relaxation. They also incorporate the self-consistent electric field generated by electron motion. In a temporally periodic external electric field, the applied magnetic field and the self-consistent electric field lead to novel nonlinear transport phenomena such as dissipative chaos and, in the absence of an external bias, symmetry-breaking. This symmetry-breaking leads to a spontaneously generated bias that often approximately satisfies a phase-locking condition corresponding to resonant photon absorption in the Wannier-Stark ladder resulting from the spontaneous bias. The current-voltage characteristic without time-dependent driving exhibits multistability for sufficiently large magnetic or self-consistent electric fields, and spontaneous current generation at zero bias is predicted for certain nonequilibrium \"\"hot\"\" electrons. We examine several limiting cases of this model to guide our studies of the general set of balance equations. We also develop clear physical intuition for, and consider the possible experimental signatures of, the novel transport properties predicted by our theoretical studies.\"","Submitted by Elizabeth Kent (eckent2@illinois.edu) on 2012-05-18T18:45:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 1999_cannon.pdf: 4857945 bytes, checksum: 0504eec333f20da31921798d84ee00bc (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2012-05-18T18:45:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1999_cannon.pdf: 4857945 bytes, checksum: 0504eec333f20da31921798d84ee00bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 1999","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Elizabeth Kent (eckent2@illinois.edu) on 2012-05-18T18:45:56Z Item is restricted indefinitely.","Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:10:07-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: thesis","thesis","U of I Only"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nonlinear transport in semiconductor superlattices"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Campbell, D.K."],"dc:creator":["Cannon, Ethan Harrison"],"dc:date":["2012-05-18T18:45:56Z","10000-01-01","1999"],"dc:description":["\"We develop a semiclassical balance equation model for transport through a single miniband of a semiconductor superlattice subject to a spatially uniform, time-dependent external electric field and/or a constant external magnetic field. The balance equations are derived from the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equation and include energy and momentum relaxation. They also incorporate the self-consistent electric field generated by electron motion. In a temporally periodic external electric field, the applied magnetic field and the self-consistent electric field lead to novel nonlinear transport phenomena such as dissipative chaos and, in the absence of an external bias, symmetry-breaking. This symmetry-breaking leads to a spontaneously generated bias that often approximately satisfies a phase-locking condition corresponding to resonant photon absorption in the Wannier-Stark ladder resulting from the spontaneous bias. The current-voltage characteristic without time-dependent driving exhibits multistability for sufficiently large magnetic or self-consistent electric fields, and spontaneous current generation at zero bias is predicted for certain nonequilibrium \"\"hot\"\" electrons. We examine several limiting cases of this model to guide our studies of the general set of balance equations. We also develop clear physical intuition for, and consider the possible experimental signatures of, the novel transport properties predicted by our theoretical studies.\"","Submitted by Elizabeth Kent (eckent2@illinois.edu) on 2012-05-18T18:45:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 1999_cannon.pdf: 4857945 bytes, checksum: 0504eec333f20da31921798d84ee00bc (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2012-05-18T18:45:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1999_cannon.pdf: 4857945 bytes, checksum: 0504eec333f20da31921798d84ee00bc (MD5) Previous issue date: 1999","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Elizabeth Kent (eckent2@illinois.edu) on 2012-05-18T18:45:56Z Item is restricted indefinitely.","Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:10:07-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: thesis","thesis","U of I Only"],"dc:identifier":["4272871","http://hdl.handle.net/2142/30874"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["©1999 Ethan Harrison Cannon"],"dc:subject":["semiconductor superlattices","Boltzmann type transport equation"],"dc:title":["Nonlinear transport in semiconductor superlattices"],"dc:type":["Dissertation / Thesis","text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:29Z"}