Physical Principles of the Amplification of Electromagnetic Radiation Due to Negative Electron Masses in a Semiconductor Superlattice

In a superlattice placed in crossed electric and magnetic fields, under certain conditions, the inversion of electron population can appear at which the average energy of electrons is above the middle of the miniband and the effective mass of the electron is negative. This is the implementation of the negative effective mass amplifier and generator (NEMAG) in the superlattice. It can result in the amplification and generation of terahertz radiation even in the absence of negative differential conductivity.