On-chip Maxwell's demon as an information-powered refrigerator

We present an experimental realization of an autonomous Maxwell's Demon, which extracts microscopic information from a System and reduces its entropy by applying feedback. It is based on two capacitively coupled single electron devices, both integrated on the same electronic circuit. This setup allows a detailed analysis of the thermodynamics of both the Demon and the System as well as their mutual information exchange. The operation of the Demon is directly observed as a temperature drop in the System. We also observe a simultaneous temperature rise in the Demon arising from the thermodynamic cost of generating the mutual information.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Utility of correlation techniques in gravity and magnetic interpretation

Internal correspondence uses Poisson's Theorem in a moving-window linear regression analysis between the anomalous first vertical derivative of gravity and total magnetic field reduced to the pole. The regression parameters provide critical information on source characteristics. The correlation coefficient indicates the strength of the relation between magnetics and gravity. Slope value gives delta j/delta sigma estimates of the anomalous source. The intercept furnishes information on anomaly interference. Cluster analysis consists of the classification of subsets of data into groups of similarity based on correlation of selected characteristics of the anomalies. Model studies are used to illustrate implementation and interpretation procedures of these methods, particularly internal correspondence. Analysis of the results of applying these methods to data from the midcontinent and a transcontinental profile shows they can be useful in identifying crustal provinces, providing information on horizontal and vertical variations of physical properties over province size zones, validating long wavelength anomalies, and isolating geomagnetic field removal problems

Utility of correlation techniques in gravity and magnetic interpretation

Two methods of quantitative combined analysis, internal correspondence and clustering, are presented. Model studies are used to illustrate implementation and interpretation procedures of these methods, particularly internal correspondence. Analysis of the results of applying these methods to data from the midcontinent and a transcontinental profile show they can be useful in identifying crustal provinces, providing information on horizontal and vertical variations of physical properties over province size zones, validating long wave-length anomalies, and isolating geomagnetic field removal problems. Thus, these techniques are useful in considering regional data acquired by satellites

Experimental realization of a Coulomb blockade refrigerator

We present an experimental realization of a Coulomb blockade refrigerator (CBR) based on a single-electron transistor (SET). In the present structure, the SET island is interrupted by a superconducting inclusion to permit charge transport while preventing heat flow. At certain values of the bias and gate voltages, the current through the SET cools one of the junctions. The measurements follow the theoretical model down to ∼80 mK, which was the base temperature of the current measurements. The observed cooling increases rapidly with decreasing temperature, in agreement with the theory, reaching about a 15 mK drop at the base temperature. The CBR appears as a promising electronic cooler at temperatures well below 100 mK.Peer reviewe

Thermal conductance of a proximity superconductor

We study heat transport in hybrid normal metal - superconductor - normal metal (NSN) structures. We find the thermal conductance of a short superconducting wire to be strongly enhanced beyond the BCS value due to inverse proximity effect. The measurements agree with a model based on the quasiclassical theory of superconductivity in the diffusive limit. We determine a crossover temperature below which quasiparticle heat conduction dominates over the electron-phonon relaxation.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figure

Experimental Observation of the Role of Mutual Information in the Nonequilibrium Dynamics of a Maxwell Demon

We validate experimentally a fluctuation relation known as generalized Jarzynski equality governing the work distribution in a feedback-controlled system. The feedback control is performed on a single electron box analogously to the original Szilard engine. In the generalized Jarzynski equality, mutual information is treated on an equal footing with the thermodynamic work. Our measurements provide the first evidence of the role of mutual information in the fluctuation theorem and thermodynamics of irreversible processes.Peer reviewe

Laterally proximized aluminum tunnel junctions

This letter presents experiments on junctions fabricated by a technique that enables the use of high-quality aluminum oxide tunnel barriers with normal metal electrodes at low temperatures. Inverse proximity effect is applied to diminish the superconductivity of an aluminum dot through a clean lateral connection to a normal metal electrode. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this method, fully normal-state single electron transistors (SETs) and normal metal-insulator-superconductor (NIS) junctions applying proximized Aljunctions were fabricated. The transport characteristics of the junctions were similar to those obtained from standard theoreticalmodels of regular SETs and NIS junctions.Peer reviewe