Quantum behavior as well as room-temperature and 50 GHz operations of novel nonlinear devices and nanomaterials

Novel nano-rectifiers based on ballistic electron transport have been fabricated from a high electron-mobility InGaAs/InP wafer. Because of the sufficiently small device size, operations at room temperature are achieved. Furthermore, the devices are shown to work not only up to at least 50 GHz but also with sensitivity to microwave reaching that of the commercial microwave diodes. Based on a similar microscopic mechanism, we have also constructed, to our knowledge, the first artificial electronic nanomaterial that operates at room temperature. Promising possibilities for practical applications, such as microwave detection and second-harmonic generation, are discussed. While the rectifying effect can be well described in the picture of classical ballistic transport, the pronounced output voltage reversal observed at low temperatures strongly suggests that quantum effect may become completely dominant