Towards Stirling engine using an optically confined particle subjected to asymmetric temperature profile

Abstract

The realization of microscopic heat engines has gained a surge of research interest in statistical physics, soft matter, and biological physics. A typical microscopic heat engine employs a colloidal particle trapped in a confining potential, which is modulated in time to mimic the cycle operations. Here, we use a lanthanide-doped upconverting particle (UCP) suspended in a passive aqueous bath, which is highly absorptive at 975 nm and converts NIR photons to visible, as the working substance of the engine. When a single UCP is optically trapped with a 975 nm laser, it behaves like an active particle by executing motion subjected to an asymmetric temperature profile along the direction of propagation of the laser. The strong absorption of 975 nm light by the particle introduces a temperature gradient and results in significant thermophoretic diffusion along the temperature gradient. However, the activity of the particle vanishes when the trapping wavelength is switched to 1064 nm. We carefully regulate the wavelength-dependent activity of the particle to engineer all four cycles of a Stirling engine by using a combination of 1064 nm and 975 nm wavelengths. Since the motion of the particle is stochastic, the work done on the particle due to the stiffness modulation per cycle is random. We provide statistical estimation for this work averaged over 5 cycles which can be extended towards several cycles to make a Stirling engine. Our experiment proposes a robust set-up to systematically harness temperature which is a crucial factor behind building microscopic engines.

arXiv commentFor published version, see https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/acd94e/meta

References in corpus (20)

• A nonequilibrium equality for free energy differences
• Stochastic thermodynamics, fluctuation theorems, and molecular machines
• Active Particles in Complex and Crowded Environments
• Self-motile colloidal particles: from directed propulsion to random walk
• Artificial Brownian motors: Controlling transport on the nanoscale
• Active Motion of Janus Particle by Self-thermophoresis in Defocused Laser Beam
• Stochastic thermodynamics: Principles and perspectives
• Pressure is not a state function for generic active fluids
• Brownian Carnot engine
• Optical forces arising from phase gradients
• A Micrometer-sized Heat Engine Operating Between Bacterial Reservoirs
• Irreversibility in active matter systems: Fluctuation theorem and mutual information
• Force unfolding kinetics of RNA using optical tweezers. I. Effects of experimental variables on measured results
• Hidden entropy production and work fluctuations in an ideal active gas
• Efficiency statistics at all times: Carnot limit at finite power
• Universal theory of efficiency fluctuations
• Autonomous engines driven by active matter: Energetics and design principles
• Active Brownian Heat Engines
• A stochastic heat engine using an active particle
• Optimal finite-time Brownian Carnot engine

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Stochastic energetics of a colloidal particle trapped in a viscoelastic bath
• Work statistics at first-passage times
• Emergence of oscillatory states of self-propelled colloids under optical confinement
• A stochastic Stirling engine powered by an active particle
• Fluctuation theorems with optical tweezers: theory and practice