Funding
EMP is funded through the Horizon2020 programme of the European Commission.
Selected Publications

Optimal Probabilistic Work Extraction beyond the Free Energy Difference with a Single-Electron Device

O. Maillet, P. A. Erdman, V. Cavina, B. Bhandari, E. T. Mannila, Joonas T. Peltonen, A. Mari, F. Taddei, C. Jarzynski, V. Giovannetti, and J. P. Pekola

We experimentally realize protocols that allow us to extract work beyond the free energy difference from a single-electron transistor at the single thermodynamic trajectory level. With two carefully designed out-of-equilibrium driving cycles featuring kicks of the control parameter, we demonstrate work extraction up to large fractions of kBT or with probabilities substantially greater than 1/2, despite the zero free energy difference over the cycle. Our results are explained in the framework of nonequilibrium fluctuation relations. We thus show that irreversibility can be used as a resource for optimal work extraction even in the absence of feedback from an external operator.


Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 150604 (2019)

doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.150604

arxiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.06274