Breathing mode in open-orbit magnetotransport: a magnetic lens with a quantum mechanical focal length

We consider the propagation of electrons in a lattice with an anisotropic dispersion in the $x$–$y$ plane (lattice constant $a$), such that it supports open orbits along the $x$-axis in an out-of-plane magnetic field $B$. We show that a point source excites a “breathing mode”, a state that periodically spreads out and refocuses after having propagated over a distance $\mathrm{\ell }=(eaB\mathrm{/}h{)}^{-1}$ in the $x$-direction. Unlike known magnetic focusing effects, governed by the classical cyclotron radius, this is an intrinsically quantum mechanical effect with a focal length $\propto \mathrm{\hslash }$.