Properties of bismuth under conditions of elastic wave generation (Review)
Abstract
Effects that arise with supersonic drift of mobile charge carriers under the action of external fields are discussed: amplification of sound, generation of acoustic noise, nonlinearity of current–voltage characteristics (CVC), and excitation of electrical oscillations. In particular, the characteristics of amplification and generation in an isotropic medium, quantum oscillations of CVC parameters of bismuth under generation conditions, the nonreciprocity effect, and negative differential resistance are examined. It is suggested that the mechanism of stabilization of nonequilibrium phonons and the relation between the dimensions of the specimen and the phonon–electron free path, which explains the properties of the dynamic CVC, are interrelated.