Accession Number:

ADA326095

Title:

Numerical Modeling of Bloch Oscillations in Periodic Structures.

Descriptive Note:

Master's thesis,

Corporate Author:

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA

Personal Author(s):

• Coppeans, Walter A., III

Report Date:

1996-12-01

Pagination or Media Count:

58.0

Abstract:

Felix Blochs 1928 article made a prediction concerning the dynamical behavior of electrons in a solid, subject to a uniform, static electric field. This aspect of his work, as later clarified by Zener, showed that electrons accelerated by an electric field in a periodic potential, under the right conditions, would oscillate. A theoretical debate as to the existence of this phenomenon has been ongoing since Blochs proposal. One of the most controversial consequences of this prediction is that an electron undergoing Bloch oscillations would radiate. The controversy on the theoretical analysis was due to the great difficulty in systematically and reliably treating interband transitions by analytical methods based on the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for independent electrons. In this thesis, we numerically solve the time-dependent Schrodinger equation to show that electrons accelerated by in an electric field in periodic structures do undergo Bloch oscillations and other dynamic behavior. By accurately modeling this phenomenon, we hope to gain a better understanding of it in hopes of using it in future applications as a stable source of Terahertz THz radiation.

Descriptors:

• *MATHEMATICAL MODELS
• *ELECTRONS
• *OSCILLATION
• TIME DEPENDENCE
• DYNAMICS
• DYNAMIC RESPONSE
• THEORY
• STRUCTURES
• THESES
• ELECTRIC FIELDS
• SCHRODINGER EQUATION
• STATIC ELECTRICITY

Subject Categories:

• Operations Research
• Nuclear Physics and Elementary Particle Physics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE