Oscillating direct electric current formed by a resonant tunneling diode inside a cavity with periodically oscillating mirrors.

A novel phenomenon is described that enables the control of the flux of free electrons through a resonance tunneling diode (RTD) via coupling the RTD to a quantized electromagnetic mode in a dark cavity. As the control parameter, one uses here the distance between the two cavity mirrors (which are set to oscillate in time). The effect is illustrated by carrying out standard scattering calculations of the electron flux. However, the only efficient way to rationalize the phenomenon and to be able to select the proper distance between the two cavity mirrors is to employ non-Hermitian quantum mechanics and the language of discrete resonance poles of the scattering matrix. The demonstrated ability to control the flux of free electrons by using a dark cavity might open a new field of research and development of controllable RTD devices.