Microwave Hot-Electron Conduction in Many-Valley Semiconductors

Abstract

Hot-carrier conduction in many-valley semiconductors in the presence of microwave signals has been considered. The time-dependent Boltzmann equation applicable for different cases of applied steady electric and microwave fields in different directions is solved to obtain the distribution of carriers. The microwave conductivity and change in dielectric constant to be observed in different cases are also deduced from the distribution function. Two cases are considered: (a) small microwave field in the presence of large steady electric and magnetic field, and (b) large microwave field in the presence of steady magnetic field. For case (b), an expression for the efficiency of third-harmonic generation is also obtained. A microwave experiment for the measurement of the Sasaki-Shibuya voltage is also proposed. The approximate numerical calculation for the efficiency agrees with that of the reported experimental value.