The charge shuttle as a nanomechanical ratchet

TL;DR

This paper investigates a nanomechanical charge shuttle driven by AC voltage, revealing complex frequency locking behavior and ratchet effects due to its nonlinear dynamics, even at low frequencies.

Contribution

It demonstrates the ratchet behavior of a charge shuttle under asymmetric conditions and explores its frequency locking phenomena driven by nonlinear dynamics.

Findings

Ratchet behavior observed in asymmetric charge shuttle

Frequency locking at fractional external frequencies

Ratchet effect persists at very low frequencies

Abstract

We consider the charge shuttle proposed by Gorelik {\em et al.} driven by a time-dependent voltage bias. In the case of asymmetric setup, the system behaves as a rachet. For pure AC drive, the rectified current shows a complex frequency dependent response characterized by frequency locking at fracional values of the external frequency. Due to the non-linear dynamics of the shuttle, the rachet effect is present also for very low frequencies.