A single-atom heat engine
A single-atom heat engine
复制标题
DOI：
10.1126/science.aad6320
复制
发表时间：
2016-04-15
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Singer, Kilian
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ronagel, Johannes;Dawkins, Samuel T.;Singer, Kilian
热机将热能转化为机械功，通常涉及大量的粒子。报道了单原子热机的实验实现。离子被限制在具有锥形几何结构的线性Paul陷阱中，并通过交替耦合到热库和冷库来进行热驱动。发动机的输出功率被用来驱动一次谐波振荡。从离子动力学的直接测量，我们能够确定不同温差的水库的热力学循环。然后，我们使用这些循环来评估发动机的功率P和效率h，得到的值高达P=3.4x10(-22)焦耳每秒，ETA=0.28%，与分析估计一致。我们的结果表明，热机可以简化到单个原子的极限。
Heat engines convert thermal energy into mechanical work and generally involve a large number of particles. 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 were able to determine the thermodynamic cycles for various temperature differences of the reservoirs. We then used these cycles to evaluate the power P and efficiency h of the engine, obtaining values up to P = 3.4 x 10(-22) joules per second and eta = 0.28%, consistent with analytical estimations. Our results demonstrate that thermal machines can be reduced to the limit of single atoms.