Quantum heat machines enabled by the electronic effective mass

Abstract

In this letter, we analyze a conceptual design for the operation of an Otto cycle heat machine driven by adiabatic modifications on the electronic effective mass. Such tailoring of it can be implemented, for instance, via the application of external electron fields in some materials, as in Gallium Nitride (GaN). We show that due both the energy quantization on this structure and the adiabatic transformation of the effective mass, the machine performance can be improved. The realization of classically inconceivable Otto machines, with an incompressible working substance, can be realized as well. Our finds hold in cases where the electronic effective mass, in the low temperature regime, remains constant during the isochoric strokes.