IBM tries for a semiconductor superlattice

Leo Esaki, Raphael Tsu, Leroy Chang and their collaborators at IBM Research Center are trying to build a manmade superlattice, which consists of alternating layers of monocrystalline semiconductors; the arrangement results in a one‐dimensional periodic potential function for the conduction electrons with a period much greater than the natural period. With such a superlattice, Esaki says, it should be possible to build amplifiers and oscillators that operate at 1 terahertz, a much higher frequency than presently available.