Abstract
We investigate current filamentation in n-GaAs in the regime of low-temperature impurity breakdown for different sample and contact geometries. Computer simulations based on a dynamic microscopic model are compared with spatially resolved measurements in thin epitaxial layers. By varying the applied bias, load resistance and magnetic field, one can effectively control the shape and the size of ...
Abstract
We investigate current filamentation in n-GaAs in the regime of low-temperature impurity breakdown for different sample and contact geometries. Computer simulations based on a dynamic microscopic model are compared with spatially resolved measurements in thin epitaxial layers. By varying the applied bias, load resistance and magnetic field, one can effectively control the shape and the size of the filaments in rectangular samples with two point contacts. Multistability and hysteresis due to the successive symmetry-breaking formation of multiple filaments are found in Corbino discs upon sweep-up and sweep-down of the voltage and explained by our model.
Altmetric