Heat pumping with optically driven excitons

TL;DR

This paper theoretically demonstrates that optically driven excitons in solid state can function as heat pumps by manipulating phonon interactions, with potential for cooling the environment through laser detuning.

Contribution

It introduces a master equation approach to analyze phonon energy transfer in driven excitonic systems, revealing conditions for cooling via laser detuning.

Findings

Cooling of phonon environment is achievable with laser detuning.

Energy transfer direction depends on driving parameters.

Theoretical framework for exciton-phonon heat pumping is established.

Abstract

We present a theoretical study showing that an optically driven excitonic two-level system in a solid state environment acts as a heat pump by means of repeated phonon emission or absorption events. We derive a master equation for the combined phonon bath and two-level system dynamics and analyze the direction and rate of energy transfer as a function of the externally accessible driving parameters. We discover that if the driving laser is detuned from the exciton transition, cooling the phonon environment becomes possible.