Two-dimensional spatiotemporal pattern formation in the double barrier resonant tunnelling diode

Abstract

We present computer simulations of the spatio-temporal dynamics of the charge and current density distributions in a semiconductor nanostructure, the double barrier resonant tunnelling diode (DBRT), in the strongly nonlinear transport regime. Complex bifurcation scenarios, including bistability of stationary and oscillating space-time patterns, a subcritical Hopf bifurcation, a bifurcation by condensation of paths of spatially inhomogeneous limit cycles, and spatio-temporal period-doubling cascades to chaos, are revealed. Stable breathing, spiking, or partially homogeneous filamentary patterns are found in the dependence of the time-scale separation of the two dynamic variables. Our model is representative for a large class of globally coupled bistable reaction-diffusion systems of activator-inhibitor type in two spatial dimensions. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.