Fate of electron beam in graphene: Coulomb relaxation or plasma instability?

Abstract

Electron beams in two-dimensional systems can provide a useful tool to study energy-momentum relaxation of electrons and to generate microwave radiation stemming from plasma-beam instabilities. Naturally, these two applications cannot coexist: if beam electrons do relax, the beam is stabilized; if instability exists, it strongly distorts the distribution function of beam electrons. In this paper, we study the competition of beam relaxation due to electron-electron (e-e) collisions and development of plasma beam instability in graphene. We find that unstable plasma mode associated with a beam is stabilized already by weak e-e collisions. At intermediate e-e collision frequency, the instability re-appears at the ordinary graphene plasmon mode. Such instability is interpreted as viscous transfer of momentum from beam to 2d plasmons. Its growth rate reaches its maximum at hydrodynamic-to-ballistic crossover, when plasmon wavelength and electron mean free path are of the same order of magnitude.