title: Stochastic model of nanomechanical electron shuttles and symmetry breaking.
abstract: Nanomechanical electron shuttles can work as ratchets for radio-frequency rectification. We develop a full stochastic model of coupled shuttles, where the mechanical motion of nanopillars and the incoherent electronic tunneling are modeled by a Markov chain. In particular, the interaction of their randomness is taken into account, so that a linear master equation is constructed. Numerical solutions from our fast approximate method and analytical derivation reveal the symmetry breaking, which results in the direct current observed in earlier measurements [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 067204 (2010)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.105.067204]. Additionally, the method can facilitate device simulation of more complex designs such as shuttle arrays.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Mo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.|Center for Hybrid Nanostructures, Falkenried 88, 20251 Hamburg, Germany.|Institutes for Nanostructure and Solid State Physics, University of Hamburg, 20355 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Blick