Higher-than-ballistic conduction of viscous electron flows

Abstract

Free electron flows through constrictions in metals are often regarded as an ultimate high-conduction charge transfer. We predict that electron fluids can flow with a resistance that is much smaller than the fundamental quantum mechanical ballistic limit for nanoscale electronics. The “superballistic” low-dissipation transport is particularly striking for the flow through a viscous point contact, a constriction exhibiting the quantum mechanical ballistic transport at zero temperature but governed by viscous electron hydrodynamics at a higher temperature. Unlike other mechanisms of low-dissipation transport, for example, superconductivity, the viscous electron flows can be realized at elevated temperatures, granting a new route for the low-power electronics research.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Mar 06, 2017
Source ID
10.1073/pnas.1612181114

Entities

People

  • Ekin Ilseven
  • Gregory Falkovich
  • Haoyu Guo
  • Leonid Levitov

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Israel Science Foundation
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • National Science Foundation
  • Russian Science Foundation
  • The Institute for Information Transmission Problems of Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Weizmann Institute of Science

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Quantum Chemistry
  • Superconducting Magnet Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene
  • Quantum Computing