Absolute Negative Conductivity in Two-Dimensional Electron Systems Associated with Acoustic Scattering Stimulated by Microwave Radiation

We discuss the feasibility of absolute negative conductivity (ANC) in two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) stimulated by microwave radiation in transverse magnetic field. The mechanism of ANC under consideration is associated with the electron scattering on acoustic piezoelectric phonons accompanied by the absorption of microwave photons. It is demonstrated that the dissipative components of the 2DES dc conductivity can be negative ( σ xx = σ yy < 0) when the microwave frequency Ω is somewhat higher than the electron cyclotron frequency Ω c or its harmonics. The concept of ANC associated with such a scattering mechanism can be invoked to explain the nature of the occurrence of zero-resistance “dissipationless” states observed in recent experiments.