Information flow and optimal protocol for a Maxwell-demon single-electron pump

摘要

We study the entropy and information flow in a Maxwell-demon device based on a single-electron transistornwith controlled gate potentials. We construct the protocols for measuring the charge states and manipulating thengate voltages, which minimizes irreversibility for (i) constant input power from the environment or (ii) givennenergy gain. Charge measurement is modeled by a series of detector readouts for time-dependent gate potentials,nand the amount of information obtained is determined. The protocols optimize irreversibility that arises due ton(i) enlargement of the configuration space on opening the barriers, and (ii) finite rate of operation. These optimalnprotocols are general and apply to all systems in which barriers between different regions can be manipulated.