Schematic of How a Ratchet Works at Macro-/Meso-Scale and Nanoscale (IMAGE)

Science China Press

Schematic of How a Ratchet Works at Macro-/Meso-Scale and Nanoscale

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At macro-/meso-scale, an additional perturbation with long-range time correlation is required for unidirectional transport in asymmetric systems. However, at nanoscale, because thermal noise has a significantly long autocorrelation time, unidirectional transport is feasible in asymmetric systems, even in the situation that thermal noise is the only perturbation. In such a situation, extra energy is required to sustain the asymmetry of the system against thermal noise.

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