Dyakonov-Shur instability of electronic fluid: Spectral effect of weak magnetic field

Abstract

We study numerically and analytically how the Dyakonov-Shur instability for a two-dimensional (2D) inviscid electronic fluid in a long channel can be affected by an external, out-of-plane static magnetic field. By linear stability analysis for a model based on the shallow-water equations, we describe the discrete spectrum of frequencies. When the fluid system is near the subsonic-to-supersonic transition point, a magnetically controlled gap between the stability and instability spectra of the complex eigen-frequencies is evident by our computations. This suggests that, within this model, the passage from stability to instability (and vice versa) is no longer continuous in the effective Mach parameter of the boundary conditions. We also demonstrate that the growth exponents are enhanced by the magnetic field. In a regime of weak magnetic fields, we derive a scaling law for the eigen-frequencies by perturbation theory. We discuss theoretical implications of our results in efforts to generate terahertz electromagnetic radiation by 2D electronic transport.