Microwave noise generation in indium antimonide
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Abstract
Larrabee and Hicinbothem [1], [2] first observed that microwave noise was produced when indium antimonide (InSb), cooled to 77°K, was excited by the application of d.c. electric and magnetic fields. Since that early observation, a plethora of data has been presented by various investigators in the field. Several theories have been advanced to explain this phenomenon but they have met with very limited success, at best. These theories fail to predict more than a few of the observed characteristics of the emission and often are contradicted by experimental evidence. This led to the frequently expressed belief that two or more processes were at work simultaneously.
The general features of the microwave emission from n-type InSb are presented below. Recent advances [3] indicate that domain nucleation may play a role in the production of the microwave emission and, therefore, important results relating to this are also discussed.