Topological information device operating at the Landauer limit

Abstract

We propose and theoretically investigate a novel Maxwell's demon implementation based on the spin-momentum locking property of topological matter. We use nuclear spins as a memory resource which provides the advantage of scalability. We show that this topological information device can ideally operate at the Landauer limit; the heat dissipation required to erase one bit of information stored in the demon's memory approaches $k_{B}T\ln 2$. Furthermore, we demonstrate that all available energy, $k_{B}T\ln 2$ per one bit of information, can be extracted in the form of electrical work. Finally, we find that the current-voltage characteristics of topological information device satisfy the conditions of an ideal memristor.

7+5 pages, 2+2 Figures