Autonomous quantum absorption refrigerators

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum absorption refrigerator based on resonant tunneling through quantum dots, utilizing fermionic leads and a central cavity to achieve heat transfer and cooling, with potential for reversible thermodynamic operation.

Contribution

It proposes a novel quantum absorption refrigerator design using quantum dots and analyzes its heat transfer regimes and optimization strategies.

Findings

Identifies two regimes of cooling related to electron and hole transport.

Demonstrates conditions for thermodynamic reversibility and Carnot efficiency.

Shows how tuning quantum dot energies enhances cooling performance.

Abstract

We propose a quantum absorption refrigerator using the quantum physics of resonant tunneling through quantum dots. The cold and hot reservoirs are fermionic leads, tunnel coupled via quantum dots to a central fermionic cavity, and we propose configurations in which the heat absorbed from the (very hot) central cavity is used as a resource to selectively transfer heat from the cold reservoir on the left, to the hot reservoir on the right. The heat transport in the device is particle---hole symmetric; we find two regimes of cooling as a function of the energy of the dots---symmetric with respect to the Fermi energy of the reservoirs---and we associate them to heat transfer by electrons above the Fermi level, and holes below the Fermi level, respectively. We also discuss optimizing the cooling effect by fine-tuning the energy of the dots as well as their linewidth, and characterize regimes where the transport is thermodynamically reversible such that Carnot Coefficent of Performance is achieved with zero cooling power delivered.