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Electron Transport in Quantum Dots pp 317–361Cite as

Electron Ratchets—Nonlinear Transport in Semiconductor Dot and Antidot Structures

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Abstract

All materials at finite temperature store a substantial amount of energy in the form of kinetic energy of electrons, atoms or molecules. It is an old and tempting idea to convert this undirected, thermal motion (heat) into directed, useful motion (work) by rectifying the random motion of particles [1,2]. However, we know that the attempt to do so is doomed to fail: in thermal equilibrium, work can not be extracted from heat—this is the essence of the Second Law of thermodynamics. The situation is different when the system is kept away from thermal equilibrium: then, the Second Law does not apply, and thermal motion can be rectified. A trivial way of doing this is to apply a bias voltage across a quantum point contact, i.e., a narrow constriction that limits electron flow [3,4]. The potential difference opens a gap in the occupation of states on either side of the point contact, disturbing thermal equilibrium. As described by the Landauer equation [5,6], it is essentially the voltage-induced lack in balance of thermal motion of the electrons, that leads to a net current towards the lower electro-chemical potential.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1274, USA

    H. Linke

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, UMIST, Manchester, M60 1QD, UK

    A. M. Song

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  1. H. Linke
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Jonathan P. Bird (Associate Professor, Visiting Professor) (Associate Professor, Visiting Professor)

  2. Center for Frontier Elecronics and Photonics, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Jonathan P. Bird (Associate Professor, Visiting Professor) (Associate Professor, Visiting Professor)

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Linke, H., Song, A.M. (2003). Electron Ratchets—Nonlinear Transport in Semiconductor Dot and Antidot Structures. In: Bird, J.P. (eds) Electron Transport in Quantum Dots. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0437-5_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0437-5_8

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