Chaos-induced orbit delocalization and complex Bloch oscillations in semiconductor superlattices

摘要

We show how semiconductor superlattices can be used to provide a new type of quantum chaotic system that is accessible to experiment. When a magnetic field is tilted relative to the superlattice axis, the semi classical orbits of electrons confined to a single miniband undergo a controllable transition from stable Bloch oscillations to chaotic orbits. The onset of chaos delocalizes the electron paths and generates complex trajectories that extend across many periods of the superlattice. We show that the chaotic motion has a fundamentally different origin to that reported for previous semiconductor structures.