Quasiperiodic time dependent current in driven superlattices: distorted Poincare maps and strange attractors

Abstract

Intriguing routes to chaos have been experimentally observed in semiconductor superlattices driven by an ac field. In this work, a theoretical model of time dependent transport in ac driven superlattices is numerically solved. In agreement with experiments, distorted Poincare maps in the quasiperiodic regime are found. They indicate the appearance of very complex attractors and routes to chaos as the amplitude of the AC signal increases. Distorted maps are caused by the discrete well-to-well jump motion of a domain wall during spiky high-frequency self-sustained oscillations of the current.