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Towards quantum thermodynamics in electronic circuits

Nature Physics volume 11, pages 118–123 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Electronic circuits operating at sub-kelvin temperatures are attractive candidates for studying classical and quantum thermodynamics: their temperature can be controlled and measured locally with exquisite precision, and they allow experiments with large statistical samples. The availability and rapid development of devices such as quantum dots, single-electron boxes and superconducting qubits only enhance their appeal. But although these systems provide fertile ground for studying heat transport, entropy production and work in the context of quantum mechanics, the field remains in its infancy experimentally. Here, we review some recent experiments on quantum heat transport, fluctuation relations and implementations of Maxwell’s demon, revealing the rich physics yet to be fully probed in these systems.

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Figure 1: Dissipation and relaxation in electronic circuits at low temperatures.
Figure 2: Testing the fluctuation theorem in equation (1) experimentally.
Figure 3: Experimental realization of the Jarzynski fluctuation relation.
Figure 4: Experimental implementation of Maxwell’s demon.

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Acknowledgements

I thank J. Koski and M. Campisi for comments on the manuscript, and A. Feshchenko for providing illustration material. This work has been supported in part by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme INFERNOS (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 308850, and by Academy of Finland (projects 250280 and 272218).

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  1. Department of Applied Physics, Low Temperature Laboratory, Aalto University School of Science, PO Box 13500, 00076 Aalto, Finland

    Jukka P. Pekola

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Correspondence to Jukka P. Pekola.

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Pekola, J. Towards quantum thermodynamics in electronic circuits. Nature Phys 11, 118–123 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3169

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