Merging spintronics and quantum thermodynamics to harvest ambient thermal energy
Dr Martin Bowen
French National Centre for Scientific Research | CNRS
Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Materials at Strasbourg (IPCMS)
I will present a novel concept that blends spintronics and quantum thermodynamics to generate
electricity. This concept is invoked to explain our experimental observations of electrical generation
across oxide [1] and molecular spintronic devices [2] that comprise paramagnetic centers
sandwiched between electrodes with full transport spin polarization. The presence of so-called
quantum resources [3,4], leading to a source of work of quantum origin called ergotropy, appears [2]
to be manifest in sub-kBT spectral features, as well in an apparent signature of a phase transition of
the spin fluctuations on the paramagnetic centers. I will discuss our present research tracks to better
understand this spintronic quantum engine. General info may also be found at
http://www.spinengine.tech.
References:
[1] Katcko, K. et al. Spin-driven electrical power generation at room temperature, Commun. Physics 2,
116 (2019).
[2] Chowrira, B., Kandpal, L. & et al. Quantum advantage in a spintronic engine with coherently
coupled ultrafast strokes using molecular superexchange, arXiv:2009.10413.
[3] Bresque, L. et al. Two-Qubit Engine Fueled by Entanglement and Local Measurements, Phys. Rev.
Lett. 126, 120605 (2021).
[4] Klatzow, J. et al. Experimental Demonstration of Quantum Effects in the Operation of Microscopic
Heat Engines, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 110601 (2019).
If you are interested to join this seminar talk, please contact the TopDyn team (topdyn@unimainz.de) for the zoom link.
Presenting our recent work “Concurrent magneto optical imaging and magneto-transport readout of electrical switching of insulating antiferromagnetic thin films” [Appl. Phys. Lett. 117, 082401 (2020)