Friday, September 7, 2012

1209.1324 (Daniel Dundas et al.)

An ignition key for atomic-scale engines    [PDF]

Daniel Dundas, Brian Cunningham, Claire Buchanan, Asako Terasawa, Anthony T. Paxton, Tchavdar N. Todorov
A current-carrying resonant nanoscale device, simulated by non-adiabatic molecular dynamics, exhibits sharp activation of non-conservative current-induced forces with bias. The result, above the critical bias, is generalized rotational atomic motion with a large gain in kinetic energy. The activation exploits sharp features in the electronic structure, and constitutes, in effect, an ignition key for atomic-scale motors. A controlling factor for the effect is the non-equilibrium dynamical response matrix for small-amplitude atomic motion under current. This matrix can be found from the steady-state electronic structure by a simpler static calculation, providing a way to detect the likely appearance, or otherwise, of non-conservative dynamics, in advance of real-time modelling.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.1324

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