Fluctuation-induced magnetoresistance in graphene Hall bars at charge neutrality

Abstract

In the temperature interval $T\sim 50 - 100 K$, the rate of electron-electron collisions in graphene devices may exceed the momentum relaxation rate due to disorder and electron-phonon scattering. In this regime, the motion of the electron liquid may be described by the hydrodynamic equations. In the hydrodynamic approximation, at the charge neutrality point the electric current is decoupled from the hydrodynamic flow, and the conductivity of the system is equal to the intrinsic conductivity of the electron liquid, $σ_0$. It was recently shown that the coupling of charge transport and hydrodynamic flow induced by the thermal fluctuations enhances the macroscopic conductivity of the system and results in very strong positive magnetoresistance (MR) at relatively weak fields. Here we develop a quantitative theory of the fluctuation mechanism of MR at charge neutrality and obtain analytic expressions for MR in graphene Hall bars. The functional dependence of MR on the magnetic field $H$ is sensitive to the Hall bar geometry and orientation relative to the current. We also account for the effect of momentum relaxation on MR.