We describe an effect of the generation of direct current which may arise i
n semiconductors or semiconductor microstructures due to a mixing of cohere
nt electromagnetic radiations of commensurate frequencies. The effect is, i
n essence, due to a nonparabolicity of the electron energy bands and is str
onger in systems where this nonparabolicity is greater. We have made exact
calculations in the framework of the Kane model, applicable to narrow-gap s
emiconductors and the tight-binding model which we employ for a description
of a semiconductor superlattice.