Theory of parametric amplification in in superlattices

Abstract

We consider a high-frequency response of electrons in a single miniband of superlattice subject to dc and ac electric fields. We show that Bragg reflections in miniband result in a parametric resonance which is detectable using ac probe field. We establish theoretical feasibility of phase-sensitive THz amplification at the resonance. The parametric amplification does not require operation in conditions of negative differential conductance. This prevents a formation of destructive high-field domains inside the superlattice.

4 pages, 4 figures. V2: typo in axis caption of fig 2 is corrected. V3: typo in ref 9 is corrected, stylistic changes in the main text, new refs 18-21 are added, and change in the title

References in corpus (8)

• Semiconductor Superlattices: A model system for nonlinear transport
• Observation of dynamic localization in periodically-curved waveguide arrays
• Intersubband gain in a Bloch oscillator and Quantum cascade laser
• Collisionally Induced Transport in Periodic Potentials
• Superlattice properties of carbon nanotubes in a transverse electric field
• Phonon Bloch oscillations in acoustic-cavity structures
• Suppressed absolute negative conductance and generation of high-frequency radiation in semiconductor superlattices
• THz parametric gain in semiconductor superlattices in the absence of electric domains

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Terahertz Bloch oscillator with a modulated bias
• Bloch gain in dc-ac-driven semiconductor superlattices in the absence of electric domains
• Effect of temperature on resonant electron transport through stochastic conduction channels in superlattices
• Model of the Influence of an External Magnetic Field on the Gain of Terahertz Radiation from Semiconductor Superlattices
• Controlling the harmonic conversion efficiency in semiconductor superlattices by interface roughness design
• Influence of the Constant Electric Field on the Mutual Rectification of the Electromagnetic Waves in Graphene Superlattice
• Superlattice nonlinearities for Gigahertz-Terahertz generation in harmonic multipliers
• Using acoustic waves to induce high-frequency current oscillations in superlattices
• Potential and limits of superlattice multipliers coupled to different input power sources
• Quasiperiodicity and suppression of multistability in nonlinear dynamical systems
• Nanohelices as superlattices: Bloch oscillations and electric dipole transitions
• Physical Principles of the Amplification of Electromagnetic Radiation Due to Negative Electron Masses in a Semiconductor Superlattice
• Excitation of relaxation oscillations in a semiconductor superlattice by incident waves: efficient terahertz harmonics generation
• Nondegenerate parametric amplification in superlattice and the limits of strong and weak dissipation
• The non-linear terahertz response of hot electrons in low-dimensional semiconductor superlattices: Suppression of the polar-optical phonon scattering
• Theoretical backgrounds of nonlinear THz spectroscopy of semiconductor superlattices