On some stationary and non-stationary temperature-electric instabilities in photoconducting CdS crystals

The behaviour of stationary temperature-electric domains and current-temperature oscillations experimentally observed in photoconducting CdS crystals is discussed using the existing linear theories of these phenomena. The current-voltage characteristics of samples with stationary temperature-electric domains, the temperature and electric field distributions in these domains as well as the threshold field and threshold frequency values of oscillations are found to be in good agreement with the calculated ones. Thus a semiquantitative explanation of the main features of both types temperature-electric instabilities mentioned above can be given. (author)