Abstract
As we miniaturize devices to reach the quantum regime, the need arises to test the laws of thermodynamics
in a new realm, in which fluctuations and quantum effects play a very important role. I will discuss how to
explore the thermodynamics of semiconductor devices at nanometer scales, and I will explain how we measured
the thermodynamic cost of recording the passage of time.
Electromechanical devices have great potential to build nanoscale motors. Fully suspended carbon nanotube devices
allow us to control mechanical and electronic degrees of freedom with high accuracy. Using these devices we show
that the transport of an electron can strongly couple to the nanotube motion. I will discuss how these experiments
can be extended to study engines where the gas is one or two electrons and the piston is the movement of the
nanotube.
These experiments and many others require increased levels of sophistication in quantum device control. The
calibration and detailed characterization of these devices are tasks that become impossible as the number
and complexity of the quantum devices we use grows. I will show that artificial intelligence algorithms are
capable of characterizing and calibrating quantum devices fully automatically and even more efficiently
than human experts.