Enhanced energy harvesting near exceptional points in systems with (pseudo-)PT-symmetry

Exceptional point degeneracies, occurring in non-Hermitian systems, have challenged many well established concepts and led to the development of remarkable technologies. Here, we propose a family of autonomous motors whose operational principle relies on exceptional points via the opportune implemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications physics 2021-04, Vol.4 (1), p.1-9, Article 79
Main Authors: Fernández-Alcázar, Lucas J., Kononchuk, Rodion, Kottos, Tsampikos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/4077/4072
639/624
639/766/400
Circuit design
Energy harvesting
Microfluidics
Microrobots
Motors
Nanotechnology devices
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Pumps
Symmetry
Thermal radiation
Wave physics
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Summary:Exceptional point degeneracies, occurring in non-Hermitian systems, have challenged many well established concepts and led to the development of remarkable technologies. Here, we propose a family of autonomous motors whose operational principle relies on exceptional points via the opportune implementation of a (pseudo-)PT-symmetry and its spontaneous or explicit violation. These motors demonstrate a parameter domain of coexisting high efficiency and maximum work. In the photonic framework, they can be propelled by thermal radiation from the ambient thermal reservoirs and utilized as autonomous self-powered microrobots, or as micro-pumps for microfluidics in biological environments. The same designs can be also implemented with electromechanical elements for harvesting ambient mechanical (e.g., vibrational) noise for powering a variety of auxiliary systems. We expect that our proposal will contribute to the research agenda of energy harvesting by introducing concepts from mathematical and non-Hermitian wave physics. Optimising energy harvesting is relevant to a variety of micro and nanotechnologies with applications ranging from self powered nanodevices to microfluidic pumps in biological environments. Here, the authors show that an opportunely designed opto(/electro)-mechanical circuit can simultaneously demonstrate high efficiency and power production when operating in the vicinity of an exceptional point degeneracy implemented via a pseudo-PT symmetry.
ISSN:2399-3650
2399-3650
DOI:10.1038/s42005-021-00577-5