Brownian magneto-gyrator as a tunable microengine

TL;DR

This paper introduces a tunable microengine based on a charged Brownian particle in a magnetic field, capable of controlling gyration direction, torque, and power, with unique mass-dependent efficiency features.

Contribution

It proposes a magneto-gyrator microengine with tunable properties via magnetic field and potential rotation, including novel mass-dependent efficiency aspects.

Findings

Gyration direction and torque are controllable by magnetic field parameters.

The microengine can be stalled or reversed through magnetic field adjustments.

Efficiency depends on particle mass even in the overdamped limit.

Abstract

A Brownian particle performs gyrating motion around a potential energy minimum when subjected to thermal noises from two different heat baths. Here, we propose a magneto-gyrator made of a single charged Brownian particle that is steered by an external magnetic field. Key properties, such as the direction of gyration, the torque exerted by the engine on the confining potential and the maximum power delivered by the microengine can be tuned by varying the strength and direction of the applied magnetic field. Further tunability is obtained by rotating the potential in the plane perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic filed. We show that in this generic scenario, the microengine can be stalled and even reversed by the magnetic field. Finally, we highlight a property of the magneto-gyrator that has no counterpart in the overdamped approximation--the heat loss from the hot to cold bath requires explicit knowledge of the mass of the particle. Consequently, the efficiency of the microengine is mass-dependent even in the overdamped limit.