Abstract
An asymmetric artificial scatterer in a semiconductor microjunction is shown to dramatically affect the nonlinear transport of ballistic electrons. The chosen device geometry, defined in a GaAs-AlGaAs heterostructure, successfully guides carriers in a predetermined spatial direction, independent of the direction of the input current . From the nonlinear current-voltage characteristic we obtain unusual symmetry relations for the four-terminal resistances with and even at zero magnetic field . The ballistic rectifier thus realized relies on a new kind of rectification mechanism entirely different from that of an ordinary diode.
- Received 1 December 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.80.3831
©1998 American Physical Society