title: All-optical nanomechanical heat engine.
abstract: We propose and theoretically investigate a nanomechanical heat engine. We show how a levitated nanoparticle in an optical trap inside a cavity can be used to realize a Stirling cycle in the underdamped regime. The all-optical approach enables fast and flexible control of all thermodynamical parameters and the efficient optimization of the performance of the engine. We develop a systematic optimization procedure to determine optimal driving protocols. Further, we perform numerical simulations with realistic parameters and evaluate the maximum power and the corresponding efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dechant
authors.affiliation: Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ), Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Nikolai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kiesel
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lutz