Premium
Response of a Bloch oscillator to a THz‐field
Author(s) -
Ignatov A. A.,
Schomburg E.,
Renk K. F.,
Schatz W.,
Palmier J. F.,
Mollot F.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
annalen der physik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1521-3889
pISSN - 0003-3804
DOI - 10.1002/andp.19945060302
Subject(s) - physics , field (mathematics) , bloch oscillations , terahertz radiation , bloch equations , quantum mechanics , condensed matter physics , quantum electrodynamics , mathematics , electric field , pure mathematics
In this paper we report on the observation of response of a Bloch oscillator at room temperature to a THz‐field of a frequency larger than the Bloch frequency. The oscillator consisted of a semiconductor superlattice structure, with an applied dc voltage giving rise to a dc electron drift current. Submitting the oscillator to a field at a frequency of 3.3 THz caused a sizeable reduction of the current; the THz‐field was generated by use of intense THz‐radiation pulses focused on an antenna coupled to the superlattice. We attribute the THz‐field induced reduction of the current to a frequency modulation of the Bloch oscillations of electrons at the frequency of the THz‐field, leading to reduction of the electron drift velocity and, consequently, of the current.