arXiv subjects

A. Niguès

Publications and source records attributed to A. Niguès.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Long-term memory and synapse-like dynamics in two-dimensional nanofluidic channels

Fine-tuned ion transport across nanoscale pores is key to many biological processes such as neurotransmission. Recent advances have enabled the confinement of water and ions to two dimensions, unveiling transport properties unreachable at larger scales and triggering hopes to reproduce the ionic machinery of biological systems. Here we report experiments demonstrating the emergence of memory in the transport of aqueous electrolytes across (sub)nanoscale channels. We unveiled two types of nanofluidic memristors, depending on channel material and confinement, with memory from minutes to hours. We explained how large timescales could emerge from interfacial processes like ionic self-assembly or surface adsorption. Such behavior allowed us to implement Hebbian learning with nanofluidic systems. This result lays the ground for biomimetic computations on aqueous electrolytic chips.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2014

Dynamical Backaction Cooling with Free Electrons

The ability to cool single ions, atomic ensembles, and more recently macroscopic degrees of freedom down to the quantum groundstate has generated considerable progress and perspectives in Basic and Technological Science. These major advances have been essentially obtained by coupling mechanical motion to a resonant electromagnetic degree of freedom in what is generally known as laser cooling. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate the first self-induced coherent cooling mechanism that is not mediated by the electromagnetic field. Using a focused electron beam, we report a 50-fold reduction of the motional temperature of a nanowire. Our result primarily relies on the sub-nanometer confinement of the electron beam and generalizes to any delayed and topologically confined interaction, with important consequences for near-field microscopy and fundamental nanoscale dissipation mechanisms.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗