Farbod Khoshnoud, Houman Owhadi, and Clarence W. de Silva
Nano-electromechanical systems, stochastic simulation, Langevinequation, Casimir oscillator∗ Industrial Automation Laboratory, Department of Mechani-cal Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Van-couver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada; e-mail: [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]∗∗ Applied and Computational Mathematics, California Insti-tute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA91125, USA; e-mail: {owhadi, farbodk}@caltech.edu; farbodk@s-f
Stochastic simulation of a nano-electromechanical energy transducer is presented in this paper. This system acts like an engine with four transformations in each engine cycle that converts potential energy due to quantum vacuum fluctuation of the electromagnetic field, or Casimir effect, to electrical energy. The system is composed of an oscillating semiconductor boundary parallel to a fixed plate separated by vacuum. The effect of the Casimir pressure in this engine is controlled by changing the optical properties of the boundaries when they are exposed to radiation that alters the plasma frequency of the dielectric medium of the moving and stationary boundaries. The stochastic simulation presented in this paper demonstrates the efficiency of the device in achieving positive net energy and deals with uncertainties in modelling such as friction and noise in the system, thereby providing a realistic model. A Langevin equation, which describes the Brownian motion, is considered for stochastic simulation of the system. The work done by the Casimir force is carried out in an open path of energy conversion, and the external radiation input to this system is not a means of input energy; rather, it is a tool to vary the system parameters.
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