Semiconductor superlattices as terahertz generators

Avoiding any truncation of the Hamiltonian for independent electrons in both ideal and imperfect superlattices subject to a uniform electric field, we show that dipole radiation in the terahertz range should be detectable for many members of the GaAs/${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}$ ${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathit{x}}$As system. The radiation can be attributed to periodic Bloch oscillations in the case of ideal superlattices, and to almost-periodic oscillations, with the dominant frequencies on the order of the Bloch frequency, in the case of imperfect superlattices.