Magneto-strain-driven quantum engine on a graphene flake

TL;DR

This paper introduces a graphene-based quantum engine that utilizes strain and magnetic fields to generate Landau levels, enabling reversible quantum cycles for energy conversion.

Contribution

It presents a novel design for a quantum engine using strain-induced pseudo-magnetic fields in graphene combined with real magnetic fields.

Findings

Discrete Landau levels can be engineered in graphene via strain and magnetic fields.

The system can perform a quantum Otto cycle through quasi-static magnetic field tuning.

The approach offers a new pathway for quantum energy devices.

Abstract

We propose a novel conceptual design for a graphene-based quantum engine, driven by a superposition of mechanical strain and an external magnetic field. Engineering of strain in a nanoscale graphene flake creates a gauge field with an associated uniform pseudo-magnetic field. The strain-induced pseudo-magnetic field can be combined with a real magnetic field, leading to the emergence of discrete relativistic Landau levels within the single-particle picture. The inter-level distance and hence their statistical population can be modulated by quasi-statically tuning the magnetic field along a sequence of reversible transformations that constitute a quantum mechanical analogue of the classical Otto cycle.