Abstract
A new type of dc current instability in a ballistic field-effect transistor (FET) is proposed, which emerges due to the finite thickness of the 2D current-carrying channel. The physical origin of the instability in “thick” ballistic FETs is the nonlocality of the relation between the surface electron density and field potential. The instability arises at wavelengths of the order of the characteristic scale length of this nonlocality, which is determined by the FET geometry and vanishes for infinitesimal thickness of the current-carrying channel. The dispersion equation is derived and the domain of parameters under which the system becomes unstable is determined. Estimates show that this new type of instability is promising for driving a high-gain source of THz radiation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C. Wirner, C. Kiener, W. Boxleitner, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 70, 2609 (1993).
K. Hirakawa, M. Grayson, D. C. Tsui, and C. Kurdak, Phys. Rev. B, 47, 16651 (1993).
K. Hirakawa, K. Yamanaka, M. Grayson and D. C. Tsui, Appl. Phys. Lett., 67, 2326 (1995).
S. A. Mikhailov, Phys. Rev. B, 58, 1517 (1998).
M. Dyakonov and M. Shur, Phys. Rev. Lett., 71, 2465 (1993).
M. Dyakonov and M. Shur, Phys. Rev. B, 51, 14341 (1995).
A. P. Dmitriev, A. S. Furman, and V. Yu. Kachorovskii, Phys. Rev. B, 54, 14020 (1996).
A. P. Dmitriev, A. S. Furman, V. Yu Kachorovskii, et al., Phys. Rev. B, 55, 10319 (1996).
T. Ando, A. B. Fowler, and F. Stern, Rev. Mod. Phys., 54, 437 (1982).
J. I. Gerstens, Surf. Sci., 97, 206 (1980).
T. K. Lee, C. S. Ting, and J. J. Quinn, Solid State Commun., 16, 1309 (1975).
E. Batke, D. Heitmann, and C. W. Tu, Phys. Rev. B, 34, 6951 (1986).
M. Shur, GaAs Devices and Circuits, Plenum, New York (1987).
J. D. Lawson, The Physics of Charged-Particle Beams, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1988).
H. Haug and S. W. Koch, Quantum Theory of the Optical and Electronic Properties of Semiconductors, World Scientific (1990).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smetanin, I.V., Han, H. A New Type Of Terahertz Frequency Range Instability of DC Current in “Thick” Ballistic Field-Effect Transistors. Journal of Russian Laser Research 22, 481–487 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012971731127
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012971731127