Pablo Carlos Lopez 1,3, Alan Celestino 1, Alex Croy 1,2 and Alex Eisfeld 1
1 Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01187 Dresden, Germany
2 Department of applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Göteborg, Sweden
3 Centro Universitario de los Valles, Universidad de Guadalajara, Ameca Jal. México
In Ref [1] the dynamics of a nano-electromechanical rotor driven by a single-electron tunneling has been considered using classical equations of motion for the rotor and a mean field approach. The device is described by a rod that has attached two quantum dots on its extremities. The rod can freely rotate about a fixed axis. The device is located between two Fermionic baths which couple to the rod via tunneling of single electrons to the quantum dots. The baths also provide a static bias voltage that drives the system. In the classical treatment of Ref [1] some interesting phenomena have been observed, like a negative differential conductance. Possible applications of such device are for example signal amplification, current rectification and viscosity measurements.
In the present work we present a quantum derivation of the device and give a full description of the quantum dynamics of the system. Additionally, we discuss similarities and differences to the classical results.
[1] EPL (Europhys Lett) 98, 68004