Current Oscillations and Resonances in Nanocrystals of Narrow-gap Semiconductors

Abstract

In single colloidal nanocrystals of narrow-gap semiconductors PbS and InSb, current instability in the form of quasi-periodic spikes and current resonance peaks was studied by measuring on a scanning probe microscope and analyzing Current-Voltage Characteristics (CVC). The observed phenomena are explained in models of the wave de Broglie process and Bloch oscillations. Statistically, the percentages of such samples and the parameters of oscillations on the current-voltage characteristic are higher, the larger the size quantization parameter, determined by the de Broglie wavelength. A possible practical use is the generation and recording of terahertz radiation modulated by ultrashort pulses.