Information flow and optimal protocol for Maxwell's demon single electron pump

TL;DR

This paper investigates entropy and information flow in a Maxwell demon device using a single-electron transistor, proposing optimal protocols to minimize irreversibility during charge measurement and gate manipulation.

Contribution

It introduces general optimal protocols for charge measurement and gate control in Maxwell's demon devices, reducing irreversibility in energy and information processing.

Findings

Protocols minimize irreversibility during barrier manipulation.

Optimal strategies depend on energy gain and input power conditions.

Applicable to systems with controllable barriers between regions.

Abstract

We study the entropy and information flow in a Maxwell demon device based on a single-electron transistor with controlled gate potentials. We construct the protocols for measuring the charge states and manipulating the gate voltages which minimizes irreversibility for (i) constant input power from the environment or (ii) given energy gain. Charge measurement is modeled by a series of detector readouts for time-dependent gate potentials, and the amount of information obtained is determined. The protocols optimize irreversibility that arises due to (i) enlargement of the configuration space on opening the barriers, and (ii) finite rate of operation. These optimal protocols are general and apply to all systems where barriers between different regions can be manipulated.