Unconventional transport in ultraclean graphene constriction devices

ORAL

Abstract

Under mesoscopic conditions, strong electron-electron interactions and weak electron-phonon coupling in graphene lead to hydrodynamic behavior of electrons, resulting in unusual and unexpected transport phenomena. Specifically, this hydrodynamical collective cooperation of electrons is predicted to enhance the flow of electrical current, leading to a striking higher-than-ballistic conductance through a narrow geometrical constriction. To access the hydrodynamic regime, we fabricated high-quality, low-disorder graphene nano-constriction devices encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride, where electron-electron scattering dominates impurity scattering. We will report on our systematic four-probe conductance measurements on devices with different constriction widths as a function of number density and temperature. The observation of quantum transport phenomena that are inconsistent with the non-interacting ballistic free-fermion model would suggest a macroscopic transport signature of electron viscosity.

Authors

  • Marta Pita Vidal

    Massachusetts Institute of Thechnology

  • Qiong Ma

    Massachusetts Institute of Thechnology, Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT

  • Kenji Watanabe

    National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044 JAPAN, National Institute for Material Science, Japan, National Institute for Materials Science, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, Advanced materials laboratory, National institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan, NIMS, Tsukuba, Japan

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044 JAPAN, National Institute for Material Science, Japan, National Institute for Materials Science, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, Advanced materials laboratory, National institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan, NIMS, Tsukuba, Japan

  • Pablo Jarrilo-Herrero

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, Massachusetts Institute of Thechnology, Massachusetts Inst of Tech-MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT