Enhanced diffusion in conic channels by means of geometric stochastic resonance

J Chem Phys. 2011 Nov 7;135(17):174102. doi: 10.1063/1.3657405.

Abstract

Geometric stochastic resonance of Brownian particles diffusing across a converging conic channel subject to oscillating forces is studied in this paper. Conic channel geometries have been previously considered as a model for transport of particles in biological membranes, zeolites, and nanostructures. For this system, a broad excess peak of the effective diffusion above the free diffusion limit is exhibited over a wide range of frequencies, suggesting a synchronization effect in the confining geometry as particles respond to the periodic modulation of the external force. This indicates that the geometric stochastic resonance effect with unbiased ac forces can be exploited for improving the transport of particles in complex geometries.