Nanoelectromechanical rotary current rectifier

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates theoretically that nanoelectromechanical rotor shuttles can effectively rectify oscillatory voltages, with controllable current direction, despite stochastic electron tunneling and thermal noise, revealing diverse operational modes.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that rotor shuttles in NEMS can serve as controllable rectifiers of oscillatory voltages, expanding understanding of non-linear nanoscale device dynamics.

Findings

Rotor shuttles can rectify oscillatory bias voltages.

Rectification direction depends on external parameters.

Multiple operational modes of charge rectification identified.

Abstract

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are devices integrating electrical and mechanical functionality on the nanoscale. Because of individual electron tunneling, such systems can show rich self-induced, highly non-linear dynamics. We show theoretically that rotor shuttles, fundamental NEMS without intrinsic frequencies, are able to rectify an oscillatory bias voltage over a wide range of external parameters in a highly controlled manner, even if subject to the stochastic nature of electron tunneling and thermal noise. Supplemented by a simple analytic model, we identify different operational modes of charge rectification. Intriguingly, the direction of the current depends sensitively on the external parameters.