Directed transport with real-time steering and drifts along pre-designed paths using a Brownian motor

Abstract

We have realized real-time steering of the directed transport in a Brownian motor based on cold atoms in optical lattices, and demonstrate drifts along pre-designed paths. The transport is induced by spatiotemporal asymmetries in the system, where we can control the spatial part, and we show that the response to changes in asymmetry is very fast. In addition to the directional steering, a real-time control of the magnitude of the average drift velocity and an on/off switching of the motor are also demonstrated. We use a non-invasive real-time detection of the transport, enabling a feedback control of the system.