EXCITATION OF MAGNETOPLASMA OSCILLATIONS IN SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURES BY FLUXES OF CHARGED PARTICLES

Abstract

The subject of the papers is the processes of analysis and physical model of excitation (amplification) of magnetoplasma oscillations (helicons) by fluxes of charged particles (electrons) in the presence of a constant magnetic field. This model is based on the Cherenkov mechanism for converting kinetic energy of particles into the energy of natural electromagnetic oscillations of solid-state (semiconductor) structures under resonance conditions when the particle velocities coincide with phase velocities of oscillations. The aim here is to justify the formulation of theoretical studies basing on the proposed physical model of generation (amplification) of electromagnetic oscillations (emergence of oscillation instabilities, i.e., exponential growth of their amplitude). We define parameters intervals for the external magnetic field, particle fluxes and types of semiconductor structures which this physical model is applied to. We perform theoretical study of the influence charged particle fluxes have on waveguide characteristics of semiconductor structures. The study justifies the possibility of generation and amplification of magnetoplasma oscillations in the submillimeter range. Our objectives are theoretical studies of the interaction of moving charges with electromagnetic oscillations of a semiconductor structure under conditions of Cherenkov radiation. The methods used are the method of successive approximations for solving the dispersion equations for a system of charged particle flux - semiconductor structure within the framework of hydrodynamic approach. The following results are obtained: Theoretical studies of the functioning of semiconductor components of electrical radio equipment in the presence of charged particle fluxes have been carried out. It is shown that the effect of the particle flux is characterized by the emergence of oscillation instabilities in the semiconductor structure. We have determined one of the mechanisms for the excitation of magnetoplasma oscillations based on the interaction of moving charges with the intrinsic fields of the structures that constitute a semiconductor unit. Such equipment failures occur under conditions of Cherenkov radiation. We have shown that this interaction leads to appearance of a mode of oscillation generation. The results of a comparative analysis of the data obtained in this work make it possible to use the proposed physical model to determine the criteria for the occurrence and development of instabilities of magnetoplasma oscillations. Conclusions. The results obtained in this work can be used in the development of active microwave range devices (amplifiers, generators and transducers of electromagnetic oscillations of the millimeter and submillimeter bands). The comparative analysis of quantitative estimates of the growth rates of oscillation instabilities, depending on the spatial configuration of the acting field (when induced current is parallel to the structure boundary), carried out in this work, provides a solution to the problem of optimizing the operating characteristics of active microwave devices.