Nonlinear waves in bismuth

Abstract

The propagation of short radio waves in a bismuth crystal in a constant magnetic field H aligned parallel to the bisecting axis oriented normally to the surface of the crystal plate is investigated theoretically. In this geometry, spatial inhomogeneity of the wave field has a weak effect on electrons and a strong effect on holes. It is demonstrated that, in a certain range of magnetic field strengths H, the bismuth crystal is characterized by two modes, namely, a helicon and a doppleron, whose damping is governed by cyclotron absorption of holes. For small amplitudes of the wave field in a linear regime, the damping lengths of both modes are relatively short due to cyclotron absorption. In a nonlinear regime, the magnetic field of the radio wave captures holes responsible for cyclotron absorption. As a result, the absorption is suppressed and the damping lengths of the helicon and the doppleron increase drastically. The excitation of these modes in the bismuth plate results in the fact that the dependence of the impedance of the plate on the magnetic field strength H exhibits resonance behavior and the transmittance of the plate increases by more than two orders of magnitude. It is shown that this effect should manifest itself at frequencies of the order of a few megahertzes in relatively weak magnetic fields (of the order of a few tens of oersteds).