Wave Propagation And Instabilities In Semiconductor

Download or read book Wave Propagation and Instabilities in Semiconductor written by P. Gueret and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is concerned with the problem of wave propagation and instability in collision-dominated media, particularly semiconductors and semimetals, in the presence of external electric and magnetic fields. The major part of the work is based on a macroscopic description of carrier motion (continuity and momentum equations). After a discussion of the validity of the approach used, the general interest is mainly centered on a type of slow wave called carrier wave (because it has a phase velocity equal to the carrier drift velocity). It is shown that, in some circumstances, carrier waves can have very low loss or can even grow. They may therefore have practical applications in delay lines or active devices. Besides the possible device applications, this study was also aimed at finding an explanation for the noise emission from indium antimonide in the presence of external electric and magnetic fields. A theory is presented which is in good agreement with some of the experimental data. A type of low frequency instability is also described which takes place in a drifted electron-hole plasma without requiring the presence of a magnetic field. In addition, the problem of helicon wave propagation and instability is reviewed in detail and extended to cover the case of helicon propagation in samples of finite dimensions. Finally, the properties of cyclotron harmonic waves in semiconductors and semimetals were studied, using a microscopic approach based on the Boltzman equation. Possible cyclotron instabilities were also investigated. (Author).