Project Goals

Advances in the fabrication of ultra-pure low-dimensional materials have led in recent years to the emergence of a new area of research – hydrodynamic electronics. Modern technologies allow for routine manufacturing of ultra-clean samples where observable physical properties are dominated by electron-electron collisions. Electrons in such systems obey the laws of hydrodynamics, which manifests itself in non-local, superballistic, and turbulent transport of energy and electric charge. Following the immense success of graphene research, many novel two-dimensional materials are currently being investigated aiming at potential applications in nanoelectronics, as well as energy conversion and storage. The past years have seen an explosion of interest, both experimental and theoretical, in the hydrodynamic effects in interacting electron systems in ultra-pure materials.
The principle aims of HYDROTRONICS are
  1. To build a framework to describe hydrodynamic charge and energy transport fine-tuned to the material properties and sample geometry, and
  2. To investigate the physics of novel materials that can be uncovered by transport measurements.
Combining the microscopic and macroscopic methods to interacting electronic systems will allow for a unique perspective and yield a powerful approach to transport phenomena that can be easily adapted to new materials and experimental settings, as they become accessible in the course of rapid technological progress. Strong collaboration between the groups involved in the project and its overall synergy will allow novel ideas to flourish, promoting a fertile environment in which early-stage researchers can develop their own paths and resolve the biggest issues in the field. Another important goal is a closer integration between the experimental, theoretical, and computational (software development) parts of the network, which will be an important element exposing practitioners in each area to cutting edge progress in the others.
The specific research objects of HYDROTRONICS are:
  1. Electronic hydrodynamics in novel materials, including van der Waals heterostructures, twisted bilayer graphene, and Weyl semimetals;
  2. Nonlocal and nonlinear phenomena in electronic hydrodynamics, including 2D turbulence;
  3. Light-matter interaction, near-field optics, and coupling to external magnetic systems (e.g., in a stacked layered device).