Restoring heat and particle flow in strongly coupled non-equilibrium devices

Abstract

Under non-equilibrium conditions, energy/particle currents flow through a quantum system coupled to multiple baths. Although the fluxes increase in the weak coupling regime as the coupling strengthens, the reason why they decrease to zero for large coupling remains unknown. This counterintuitive behavior of energy exchange or transport phenomena is called the turnover effect. It has been predicted in several quantum systems such as photosynthetic complexes, mesoscopic junctions, quantum heat machines, and chemical networks without a single counterexample, and it results in constrained performance due to limited currents. Here, we use scattering theory to study the turnover effect produced by low-zdensity reservoirs of free particles scattered by a quantum system through localized potentials. We find that the turnover effect is a consequence of total reflection that impedes the reservoir particle from reaching the interaction region and exchanging energy with the quantum system. Moreover, we design a protocol based on quantum tunneling to avoid the turnover and to increase the maximum current. This strategy could be used to unleash the full potential of devices based on temperature/chemical potential gradients.