Absolute negative conductivity and spontaneous current generation in semiconductor superlattices with hot electrons

We study electron transport through a semiconductor superlattice subject to an electric field parallel to and a magnetic field perpendicular to the growth axis. Using a single miniband, semiclassical balance equation model with both elastic and inelastic scattering, we find that (1) the current-voltage characteristic becomes multistable in a large magnetic field; and (2) "hot" electrons display novel features in their current-voltage characteristics, including absolute negative conductivity (ANC) and, for sufficiently strong magnetic fields, a spontaneous dc current at zero bias. We discuss possible experimental situations providing the necessary hot electrons to observe the predicted ANC and spontaneous dc current generation.