title: Harvesting dissipated energy with a mesoscopic ratchet.
abstract: The search for new efficient thermoelectric devices converting waste heat into electrical energy is of major importance. The physics of mesoscopic electronic transport offers the possibility to develop a new generation of nanoengines with high efficiency. Here we describe an all-electrical heat engine harvesting and converting dissipated power into an electrical current. Two capacitively coupled mesoscopic conductors realized in a two-dimensional conductor form the hot source and the cold converter of our device. In the former, controlled Joule heating generated by a voltage-biased quantum point contact results in thermal voltage fluctuations. By capacitive coupling the latter creates electric potential fluctuations in a cold chaotic cavity connected to external leads by two quantum point contacts. For unequal quantum point contact transmissions, a net electrical current is observed proportional to the heat produced.
authors.affiliation: Nanoelectronics Group, Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, IRAMIS/DSM (CNRS UMR 3680), CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.affiliation: Nanoelectronics Group, Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, IRAMIS/DSM (CNRS UMR 3680), CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roulleau
authors.affiliation: Nanoelectronics Group, Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, IRAMIS/DSM (CNRS UMR 3680), CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jullien
authors.affiliation: Nanoelectronics Group, Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, IRAMIS/DSM (CNRS UMR 3680), CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jompol
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J.J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Farrer
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, J.J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.affiliation: Nanoelectronics Group, Service de Physique de l'Etat Condensé, IRAMIS/DSM (CNRS UMR 3680), CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Glattli