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Abstract

We propose an experimental scheme to realize a nanoheat engine with a single ion. An Otto cycle may be implemented by confining the ion in a linear Paul trap with tapered geometry and coupling it to engineered laser reservoirs. The quantum efficiency at maximum power is analytically determined in various regimes. Moreover, Monte Carlo simulations of the engine are performed that demonstrate its feasibility and its ability to operate at a maximum efficiency of 30% under realistic conditions.

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Most cited references 37

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Quantum dynamics of single trapped ions

D Leibfried, R Blatt, C Monroe … (2003)

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Efficiency of a Carnot engine at maximum power output

F. L. Curzon, B. Ahlborn (1975)

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Extracting work from a single heat bath via vanishing quantum coherence.

Marlan Scully, M. Zubairy, Girish Agarwal … (2003)

We present here a quantum Carnot engine in which the atoms in the heat bath are given a small bit of quantum coherence. The induced quantum coherence becomes vanishingly small in the high-temperature limit at which we operate and the heat bath is essentially thermal. However, the phase phi, associated with the atomic coherence, provides a new control parameter that can be varied to increase the temperature of the radiation field and to extract work from a single heat bath. The deep physics behind the second law of thermodynamics is not violated; nevertheless, the quantum Carnot engine has certain features that are not possible in a classical engine.