Optomechanical Stirling heat engine driven by feedback-controlled light

TL;DR

This paper proposes an optomechanical Stirling heat engine that uses feedback-controlled light to efficiently perform thermodynamic cycles with a mechanical resonator and optical cavity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microscopic heat engine model utilizing feedback-controlled light to manipulate an optomechanical system for thermodynamic processes.

Findings

Demonstrates how feedback control modulates light fluctuations for thermodynamic efficiency

Shows the feasibility of implementing Stirling cycles in optomechanical systems

Provides analysis of energy transfer and cycle performance in the proposed engine

Abstract

We propose and analyze a microscopic Stirling heat engine based on an optomechanical system. The working fluid is a single vibrational mode of a mechanical resonator, which interacts by radiation pressure with a feedback-controlled optical cavity. The cavity light is used to engineer the thermal reservoirs and to steer the resonator through a thermodynamic cycle. In particular, the feedback is used to properly modulate the light fluctuations inside the cavity and hence to realize efficient thermodynamic transformations with realistic optomechanical devices.