Controlling and measuring quantum transport of heat in trapped-ion crystals

TL;DR

This paper proposes using trapped-ion chains to measure and control quantum heat transport, enabling studies of thermal conduction, fluctuations, and quantum analogues of electronic devices at the nanoscale.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control and measure vibrational heat currents in trapped-ion crystals, facilitating quantum transport studies with accessible fluctuation measurements.

Findings

Efficient control and measurement of vibrational heat currents in ion chains.

Demonstration of quantum transport phenomena and fluctuations.

Potential to observe Fourier's law and large current fluctuations.

Abstract

Measuring heat flow through nanoscale systems poses formidable practical difficulties as there is no `ampere meter' for heat. We propose to overcome this problem by realizing heat transport through a chain of trapped ions. Laser cooling the chain edges to different temperatures induces a current of local vibrations (vibrons). We show how to efficiently control and measure this current, including fluctuations, by coupling vibrons to internal ion states. This demonstrates that ion crystals provide a suitable platform for studying quantum transport, e.g., through thermal analogues of quantum wires and quantum dots. Notably, ion crystals may give access to measurements of the elusive large fluctuations of bosonic currents and the onset of Fourier's law. These results are supported by numerical simulations for a realistic implementation with specific ions and system parameters.