The dynamics of the diffusion flow of holes photoinjected into a mesoscopic GaAs channel of variable width, where they, together with background electrons, form a hydrodynamic electron-hole fluid, is studied using time-resolved microphotoluminescence. It is found that the rate of recombination of photoinjected holes, which is proportional to the rate of their flow, decreases when holes pass through the expanded sections of the channel. In fact, this is the Venturi effect, which consists in a decrease in the velocity of the fluid in the expanded sections of the pipe. Moreover, a nonuniform diffusion velocity profile is observed, similar to the parabolic Hagen-Poiseuille velocity profile, which indicates a viscous hydrodynamic flow. It is shown that in agreement with a theory, the magnetic field strongly suppresses the viscosity of the electron-hole fluid. Additional evidence of the viscous nature of the studied electron-hole fluid is the observed increase in the recombination rate with increasing temperature, which is similar to the decrease in the electrical resistance of viscous electrons with temperature.

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• Carrier dynamics
• Carrier generation & recombination
• Diffusion
• Mesoscopics