Two Coupled Double Quantum Dots Systems as an working substance for Heat Machines

Abstract

This paper presents a conceptual design for quantum heat machines using a pair of coupled double quantum dots (DQDs), each DQD with an excess electron to interact, as an working substance. We define a compression ratio as the ratio between the Coulomb couplings which describes the interaction between the electrons during the isochoric processes of the quantum Otto cycle and then we analyse the arising of different regimes of operations of our thermal machine. We also show how we can achieve a classically inconceivable Otto engine, when considering the effects due to the parameters related to the quantum tunneling of a single electron between each individual DQD.