Experimental quantum ratchets based on solid state nanostructures

Abstract

Ratchets are spatially asymmetric devices in which particles can move on average in one direction in the absence of external net forces or gradients. This is made possible by the rectification of fluctuations, which also provide the energy for the process. Interest in the physics of ratchets was revived in recent years when it emerged that the ratchet principle may be a suitable physical model for ‘molecular motors’, which are central to many fundamental biological processes, such as intracellular transport or muscle contraction. Most ratchets studied so far have relied on classical effects, but recently ‘quantum ratchets’, involving quantum effects, have also been studied. In the present article it is pointed out that semiconductor or metal nanostructures are very suitable systems for the realisation of experimental quantum ratchets. Recent experimental studies of a quantum ratchet based on an asymmetric quantum dot are reviewed.