Examination of Chaotic Structures in Semiconductor or Alloy Voltage Time-Series: A Complex Network Approach for the Case of TlInTe2

Dimitrios Tsiotas,Michael P Hanias,Lykourgos Magafas

doi:10.3390/physics2040036

Abstract

This paper proposes a method for examining chaotic structures in semiconductor or alloy voltage oscillation time-series, and focuses on the case of the TlInTe2 semiconductor. The available voltage time-series are characterized by instabilities in negative differential resistance in the current–voltage characteristic region, and are primarily chaotic in nature. The analysis uses a complex network analysis of the time-series and applies the visibility graph algorithm to transform the available time-series into a graph so that the topological properties of the graph can be studied instead of the source time-series. The results reveal a hybrid lattice-like configuration and a major hierarchical structure corresponding to scale-free characteristics in the topology of the visibility graph, which is in accordance with the default hybrid chaotic and semi-periodic structure of the time-series. A novel conceptualization of community detection based on modularity optimization is applied to the available time-series and reveals two major communities that are able to be related to the pair-wise attractor of the voltage oscillations’ phase portrait of the TlInTe2 time-series. Additionally, the network analysis reveals which network measures are more able to preserve the chaotic properties of the source time-series. This analysis reveals metric information that is able to supplement the qualitative phase-space information. Overall, this paper proposes a complex network analysis of the time-series as a method for dealing with the complexity of semiconductor and alloy physics.

Highlights

IntroductionSemiconductors are materials with temperature-dependent electrical conductivity, with conductivities ranging between those of conductors (e.g., Cu) and those of insulators (e.g., SiO2 ) [1,2,3]
Semiconductors are materials with temperature-dependent electrical conductivity, with conductivities ranging between those of conductors (e.g., Cu) and those of insulators (e.g., SiO2 ) [1,2,3].This characteristic property is the result of their incomplete crystal structure, which generally causes a decrease in their resistivity with an increase in temperature, in contrast to the typical behavior of metals [4]
This paper proposed a method for examining chaotic structures in semiconductor or alloy voltage oscillation time-series, and studied the case of the thallium indium ditelluride single crystal (TlInTe2 )

Summary

Introduction

Semiconductors are materials with temperature-dependent electrical conductivity, with conductivities ranging between those of conductors (e.g., Cu) and those of insulators (e.g., SiO2 ) [1,2,3] This characteristic property is the result of their incomplete (doped) crystal structure, which generally causes a decrease in their resistivity (and an increase in their conductivity) with an increase in temperature, in contrast to the typical behavior of metals [4]. Semiconductors have a range of useful properties, such as facilitating the transit of current in one direction rather than in the other, providing differential resistance, and exhibiting sensitivity to light or heat [3].

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