Dissipative charging of tight-binding quantum batteries

Abstract

We investigate autonomous dissipative charging mechanisms for lattice quantum batteries within the framework of open quantum systems. Focusing on engineered Markovian dissipation, we show that appropriately designed Lindblad jump operators can drive tight-binding systems into highly excited band-edge states, resulting in steady states with large ergotropy. We illustrate this mechanism in a one-dimensional tight-binding chain and in a two-dimensional graphene lattice. We find that disorder enhances the charging power, indicating that dissipation-assisted localization effects can be beneficial for energy storage. Moreover, the dissipative charging process remains robust against additional local dephasing noise. Our results establish bond dissipation as an effective and physically transparent mechanism for charging lattice quantum batteries in realistic open-system settings.

Figures (5)

• Figure 1: Clean tight-binding quantum battery. (a) Schematic of a dissipative tight-binding chain. Red (blue) spheres denote lattice sites (local baths). (b) Energy spectrum and eigenstate distribution for a one-dimensional tight-binding chain with periodic boundary conditions. The steady-state occupation (color intensity) under bond dissipation with $\eta=1$ is concentrated near the top of the band ($k \approx 0$), corresponding to large ergotropy. (c) Time evolution of the extractable work $\mathcal{E}(\tau)/\mathcal{E}_{\text{ss}}$ starting from the passive state associated with the steady-state. The ergotropy saturates within a few inverse dissipation times $1/\gamma$. Unless stated otherwise, numerical results are obtained for $L=64$ with periodic boundary conditions.
• Figure 2: Effect of on-site disorder on charging performance in a one-dimensional chain. (a) Steady-state ergotropy $\mathcal{E}_{\text{ss}}$ as a function of disorder strength $W$. (b) Charging dynamics $\mathcal{E}(\tau)/\mathcal{E}_{\text{ss}}$ for different disorder strengths. The corresponding average powers, defined in Eq. \ref{['Power_99']}, are $P_{W=0}=0.15$, $P_{W=0.1}=0.19$, $P_{W=0.3}=0.25$, and $P_{W=0.5}=0.34$. The inset shows that the amount of work extractable from the highly excited charged state via the simple unitary operation defined in this work is close to the bound imposed by the second law of thermodynamics. All data in this figure are computed using periodic boundary conditions.
• Figure 3: Two-dimensional graphene lattice as a quantum battery. (a) Schematic of dissipative graphene. Red (blue) spheres denote lattice sites (local baths). (b) Steady-state occupation on eigenstates under bond dissipation with $\eta=1$, showing preferential population of high-energy states. (c) Temporal evolution of $\mathcal{E}(\tau)$ in the graphene lattice, starting from the passive state associated with the steady-state. All data in this figure are computed using periodic boundary conditions.
• Figure 4: Robustness of charging in a disordered graphene lattice. (a) Steady-state occupation on eigenstates under bond dissipation ($\eta=1$) with finite disordered potential. (b) Comparison of charging dynamics $\mathcal{E}(\tau)/\mathcal{E}_{\text{ss}}$ with and without disorder. The corresponding average powers [Eq. \ref{['Power_99']}] are $P_{W=0}=0.14$, $P_{W=0.2}=0.16$, $P_{W=0.4}=0.24$, and $P_{W=0.6}=0.38$. The inset shows $\mathcal{E}_{\text{ss}}$ versus disorder strength $W$. All data in this figure are computed using periodic boundary conditions.
• Figure 5: Dissipative graphene and the effects of dephasing. (a) Schematic for implementing local dissipation operators. The lower and upper lattices correspond to the auxiliary system and the battery, respectively. Two adjacent sites in the battery are coupled to an intermediate auxiliary site via Raman lasers with opposite Rabi amplitudes $\pm\Omega$, realizing the annihilation process $(c_i - c_{i+1})$. The subsequent creation process $(c_i^\dagger + c_{i+1}^\dagger)$ is achieved through isotropic spontaneous decay at rate $\Gamma$ back to the original sites. This combined excitation--decay cycle effectively implements the dissipator in Eq. \ref{['eq:Lij']}. (b) Steady-state ergotropy under different dephasing strengths. (c) Comparison of charging dynamics $\mathcal{E}(\tau)/\mathcal{E}_{\text{ss}}$ with and without dephasing. The powers for three different dephasing strengths are: $P_{\gamma_d=0}=0.15$, $P_{\gamma_d=0.15}=0.67$, and $P_{\gamma_d=0.3}=1.21$. Moderate dephasing accelerates the approach to the steady-state. The inset shows that the amount of work extractable from the highly excited charged state via the simple unitary operation defined in this work is very close to the bound imposed by the second law of thermodynamics. All data in this figure are computed using periodic boundary conditions.