Dynamics of space-charge domains in ultrapure Ge

Abstract

An array of capacitive probes is used to measure the spatially dependent electric field associated with a driven chaotic instability in p-type ultrapure Ge. As the drive amplitude is increased, we observe first the onset of temporal chaos and later a transition to a higher-dimensional attractor with a loss of spatial coherence due to the nucleation and destruction of high-field domains in the bulk of the sample.