A single-atom heat engine

Understand

We report the experimental realization of a single-atom heat engine.

• An ion is confined in a linear Paul trap with tapered geometry and driven thermally by coupling it alternately to hot and cold reservoirs.
• The output power of the engine is used to drive a harmonic oscillation.
• From direct measurements of the ion dynamics, we determine the thermodynamic cycles for various temperature differences of the reservoirs.