A single-atom heat engine
Statistical Mechanics
2016-04-19 v1 Atomic Physics
Quantum Physics
Abstract
We report the experimental realization of a single-atom heat engine. An ion is confined in a linear Paul trap with tapered geometry and driven thermally by coupling it alternately to hot and cold reservoirs. The output power of the engine is used to drive a harmonic oscillation. From direct measurements of the ion dynamics, we determine the thermodynamic cycles for various temperature differences of the reservoirs. We use these cycles to evaluate power and efficiency of the engine, obtaining up to yJ and , consistent with analytical estimations. Our results demonstrate that thermal machines can be reduced to the ultimate limit of single atoms.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1510.03681,
title = {A single-atom heat engine},
author = {Johannes Roßnagel and Samuel Thomas Dawkins and Karl Nicolas Tolazzi and Obinna Abah and Eric Lutz and Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler and Kilian Singer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1510.03681},
year = {2016}
}