Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics -- August 1997 -- Volume 85, Issue 2, pp. 351-359

Breakdown of the linear current regime in periodic structures

A. M. Satanin and S. V. Khor'kov
N. I. Lobachevski(i, breve) Nizhni(i, breve) Novgorod State University, 603600 Nizhni(i, breve) Novgorod, Russia
V. V. Skuzovatkin
Institute of Microstructure Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 603600 Nizhni(i, breve) Novgorod, Russia

We study the effect of a weak nonlinearity in media on the linear regime of current flow in two-dimensional periodic structures with two equal component concentrations. We find that the asymptotic behavior of the electric field and current as functions of the distance between the angles in heterogeneous media is determined by the parameter h = sigma 2/ sigma 1 (here sigma 1 and sigma 2 are the linear conductivities of the cells) and the external magnetic field B. This dependence leads to divergence of the higher-order moments of field and current at certain critical values hc and Bc and to divergence of the response functions related to the higher-order moments. For square cells the effective nonlinear conductivity diverges at h(less-than-or-equal-to)hc, with hc = ((square root of 2)-1)2. For structures of general shape we find the dependence of hc on the angles and the external magnetic field. We show that for a given structure the linear regime of current flow in the system can be reversibly transformed into a nonlinear one by varying the magnetic field strength. The critical field Bc is approximately determined from the condition omega c tau ~ 1, where omega c and tau -1 are, respectively, the cyclotron frequency and the collision rate. Finally, we discuss the feasibility of detecting these effects experimentally. © 1997 American Institute of Physics.

History Submitted: 31 December 1996
Subject Electronic transport in condensed matter
PACS
  • CODE: 72.10.Bg
    Electronic transport in condensed matter : Theory of electronic transport; scattering mechanisms : [General formulation of transport theory]
  • CODE: 77.22.Jp
    Dielectrics, piezoelectrics, and ferroelectrics and their properties : Dielectric properties of solids and liquids : [Dielectric breakdown and space-charge effects]
  • YEAR: 1996-97
Keywords electrical conductivity; electric breakdown
Doc. Type Theoretical
Coden JTPHES
PII S1063-7761(97)01808-8

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