Skipping and snake orbits of electrons: Singularities and catastrophes

Nathan Davies*, Aavishkar A. Patel, Alberto Cortijo, Vadim Cheianov, Francisco Guinea, Vladimir I. Fal'Ko

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Near the sample edge, or a sharp magnetic field step, the drift of two-dimensional (2D) electrons in a magnetic field has the form of skipping and snake orbits. We show that families of skipping and snake orbits of electrons injected at one point inside a 2D metal generically exhibit caustics folds, cusps, and cusp triplets, and, in one exceptional case, an extreme section of the butterfly bifurcation. Periodic appearance of singularities along the ±B interface leads to the magneto-oscillations of nonlocal conductance in multiterminal electronic devices.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number155433
    JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
    Volume85
    Issue number15
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 16 Apr 2012

    Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

    • National Graphene Institute

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