Supersonic flow and negative local resistance in hydrodynamic Dirac electron nozzles (1905.01247v2)

Abstract: In clean Dirac electron systems such as graphene, electron-electron interactions can dominate over other relaxation mechanisms such as phonon or impurity scattering. It has been predicted that in this limit, collective electron dynamics can be described by hydrodynamic equations. The prerequisites for electron liquids are already fulfilled in current experiments and hints of electron hydrodynamics have been identified in transport measurements. Here, we show that a nozzle geometry, implemented for example in a graphene sample, can cause a transition from subsonic to supersonic flow and provides an interesting probe for the hydrodynamic regime of Dirac electrons. In particular, we predict two distinct transport features that can be seen in the experimentally measurable voltage characteristics on the exit side of the nozzle: a pronounced negative local resistance, and an abrupt change of the electrostatic potential induced by an electron shock wave. Our results pave the way for an experimental identification of supersonic hydrodynamic electron flow and for the experimental study of electron shock waves.