Influence of external circuits on filamentarycurrent flow during impurity breakdown in n -typeGaAs

Abstract
Two-dimensional simulations are performed of low-temperature impurity breakdown in an n-type GaAs film connected to a capacitive and resistive external circuit under current controlled conditions. The results confirm that the transition between nearly-insulating and highly-conductive states, where a current filament is formed or decays in the sample, is synchronised with the charging and discharging of a parallel capacitor. Our simulations also indicate a mechanism for self-sustained relaxation oscillations.

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