Abstract
We present an optical realization of a thermal ratchet. Directed motion of Brownian particles in water is induced by modulating in time a spatially periodic but asymmetric optical potential. The net drift shows a maximum as a function of the modulation period. The experimental results agree with a simple theoretical model based on diffusion.
- Received 31 August 1994
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.1504
©1995 American Physical Society
