Operation of a semiconductor superlattice oscillator

Abstract We report an experimental study of a semiconductor superlattice oscillator and present an analysis of the origin of gain. The oscillator generated microwave radiation (at frequencies around 60 GHz). An analysis of the results suggests that the oscillator operated in a pure charge accumulation mode that can occur in a medium with a negative differential mobility. We relate the negative differential mobility to miniband transport. Additionally, we propose a microwave-terahertz double oscillator that may be suitable to realize a terahertz Bloch oscillator.