Extra cost of erasure due to quantum lifetime broadening
Journal article, 2025
The energy cost of erasing a bit of information was fundamentally lower bounded by Landauer, in terms of the temperature of its environment, W kBT ln 2. Energy consumption and heat generation in computers is now a pressing issue, but real electronic devices operate out of equilibrium and are subject to other noise sources besides temperature. Considering a quantum dot charge bit as a concrete model, we here derive a tighter bound, rigorously quantifying the dissipative impact of lifetime broadening and potential difference, in terms of a few experimentally measurable parameters. In practical contexts, these additional contributions may significantly outweigh the cost due to temperature alone. The results shed light not only on theoretical limits of erasure but also on constraints in realistic devices.
Author
Joe Dunlop
University of Exeter
Federico Cerisola
University of Exeter
Juliette Monsel
Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Applied Quantum Physics
Sofia Sevitz
University of Potsdam
Jorge Tabanera-Bravo
Max Planck Society
Jonathan Dexter
University of Oxford
Federico Fedele
University of Oxford
Natalia Ares
University of Oxford
Janet Anders
University of Potsdam
University of Exeter
PHYSICAL REVIEW A
2469-9926 (ISSN) 2469-9934 (eISSN)
Vol. 112 1 L010601ASPECTS Quantum Thermodynamics of Precision in Electronic Devices
European Commission (EC) (101080167), 2022-11-01 -- 2025-10-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.1103/pc2t-ybtz