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Dynamic relaxation of a levitated nanoparticle from a non-equilibrium steady state

Nature Nanotechnology volume 9, pages 358–364 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Fluctuation theorems are a generalization of thermodynamics on small scales and provide the tools to characterize the fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities in non-equilibrium nanoscale systems. They are particularly important for understanding irreversibility and the second law in fundamental chemical and biological processes that are actively driven, thus operating far from thermal equilibrium. Here, we apply the framework of fluctuation theorems to investigate the important case of a system relaxing from a non-equilibrium state towards equilibrium. Using a vacuum-trapped nanoparticle, we demonstrate experimentally the validity of a fluctuation theorem for the relative entropy change occurring during relaxation from a non-equilibrium steady state. The platform established here allows non-equilibrium fluctuation theorems to be studied experimentally for arbitrary steady states and can be extended to investigate quantum fluctuation theorems as well as systems that do not obey detailed balance.

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Figure 1: Experimental set-up.
Figure 2: Relaxation from a non-equilibrium steady state generated by parametric feedback cooling.
Figure 3: Fluctuation theorem for the relaxation experiment in Fig. 2.
Figure 4: Relaxation from a non-equilibrium steady state generated by external parametric modulation.
Figure 5: Fluctuation theorem for the relaxation experiment of Fig. 4.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by ETH Zürich, ERC-QMES (no. 338763), ERC-Plasmolight (no. 259196), Fundació Privada CELLEX and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) within the SFB ViCoM (grant F41). The authors acknowledge support from the ESF Network Exploring the Physics of Small Devices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICFO–Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, Castelldefels (Barcelona), 08860, Spain

    Jan Gieseler & Romain Quidant

  2. ICREA–Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, 08010, Spain

    Romain Quidant

  3. University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Boltzmanngasse 5, Wien, 1090, Austria

    Christoph Dellago

  4. ETH Zürich, Photonics Laboratory, Zürich, 8093, Switzerland

    Lukas Novotny

Authors
  1. Jan Gieseler
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  2. Romain Quidant
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  4. Lukas Novotny
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Contributions

L.N. and J.G. conceived and designed the experiments. J.G. performed the experiments. J.G., C.D. and L.N. analysed the data. C.D. developed the theoretical framework. R.Q. contributed materials/analysis tools. J.G., C.D. and L.N. co-wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Christoph Dellago or Lukas Novotny.

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Gieseler, J., Quidant, R., Dellago, C. et al. Dynamic relaxation of a levitated nanoparticle from a non-equilibrium steady state. Nature Nanotech 9, 358–364 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.40

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