Noise-induced pattern formation in a semiconductor nanostructure

Abstract

We investigate the influence of noise upon the dynamics of the current density distribution in a model of a semiconductor nanostructure, namely, a double barrier resonant tunneling diode. We fix the parameters of the device below the Hopf bifurcation, where the only stable state of the system is a spatially inhomogeneous "filamentary" steady state. We show that the addition of weak Gaussian white noise to the system gives rise to spatially inhomogeneous oscillations that can be quite coherent. As the noise intensity grows, the oscillations tend to become more and more spatially homogeneous, while simultaneously the temporal correlation of the oscillations decreases. Thus, while on one hand noise destroys temporal coherence, on the other hand it enhances the spatial coherence of the current density pattern.