We investigate ergotropy dynamics in a graphene-based quantum battery modeled as a four-level spin--valley system under different dissipative environments. The battery is charged via a Gaussian pulse and subsequently evolves under amplitude damping, dephasing, and both Markovian and non-Markovian reservoirs. We find that amplitude damping, while inducing energy loss, can stabilize non-passive steady states with finite ergotropy, whereas pure dephasing suppresses coherence and eliminates work extraction. On the other hand, non-Markovian memory slows ergotropy loss and enables partial recovery through information backflow. These results identify coherence and reservoir memory as essential resources for enhancing the long-time performance of graphene quantum batteries.
We investigate ergotropy dynamics in a graphene-based quantum battery modeled as a four-level spin--valley system under different dissipative environments. The battery is charged via a Gaussian pulse and subsequently evolves under amplitude damping, dephasing, and both Markovian and non-Markovian reservoirs. We find that amplitude damping, while inducing energy loss, can stabilize non-passive steady states with finite ergotropy, whereas pure dephasing suppresses coherence and eliminates work extraction. On the other hand, non-Markovian memory slows ergotropy loss and enables partial recovery through information backflow. These results identify coherence and reservoir memory as essential resources for enhancing the long-time performance of graphene quantum batteries.
Going beyond isolated system dynamics, we examine how local and spatially correlated reservoirs influence the work extraction in quantum batteries. By employing a one-dimensional spin-1/2 model coupled to baths via dephasing and amplitude-damping noise, we demonstrate that correlations in reservoirs can significantly enhance battery's performance compared to local noise. In the dephasing scenario, we prove that correlated reservoirs produce a finite amount of extractable work, or ergotropy, during the transient regime when a two-cell battery is initialized in a product state while local noise yields vanishing ergotropy at all times, despite nonvanishing stored energy in both cases. Numerical simulations confirm that this advantage persists across larger system sizes and for both entangled and product initial states. We also find that the dynamics of quantum coherence closely mirror those of ergotropy, highlighting coherence as a key resource underlying the enhanced performance of quantum batteries. Further, we observe that the fraction of stored energy extracted from quantum batteries displays a sharper contrast between the correlated and local reservoirs. Moreover, for dephasing noise, this fraction remains independent of system size, whereas in the amplitude damping case, it exhibits a clear system-size dependence within the transient regime, highlighting distinct operational behaviors under different noise models. In addition, we reveal that when the battery dynamics is governed by an effective Hamiltonian with long-range interactions, it yields higher ergotropy compared to short-range interactions, emphasizing the advantages of reservoir engineering for efficient device design.
Decoherence and dissipation in open quantum systems generally drive quantum batteries toward passive states, thereby reducing their extractable work (ergotropy). Here, we study a driven qubit quantum battery coherently coupled to an auxiliary harmonic oscillator in the presence of dephasing and dissipation. Using the differential formulation of the first law of open quantum thermodynamics, we analyze the local energy-flow dynamics during the charging process. We find that the auxiliary oscillator induces a transient negative local energy current into the qubit subsystem, corresponding to a temporary inward energy backflow. This transient energy redistribution is accompanied by an enhancement of the qubit ergotropy and a partial suppression of decoherence-induced passivation. Moreover, the parameter regime exhibiting a more pronounced negative-current interval is consistently correlated with larger ergotropy enhancement. Our results suggest that transient inward energy flow provides a useful thermodynamic signature associated with enhanced energy storage in open quantum batteries.
Abstract We study the effect of non-Markovianity in the charging process of an open-system quantum battery. We employ a collisional model framework, where the environment is described by a discrete set of ancillary systems and memory effects in the dynamics can be introduced by allowing these ancillas to interact. We study in detail the behaviour of the steady-state ergotropy and the impact of the information backflow to the system on the different features characterizing the charging process. Remarkably, we find that there is a maximum value of the ergotropy achievable: this value can be obtained either in the presence of memoryless environment, but only in the large-loss limit, as derived in (Farina et al 2019 Phys. Rev. B 99 035421), or in the presence of an environment with memory also beyond the large-loss limit. In general, we show that the presence of an environment with memory allows us to generate steady-state ergotropy near to its maximum value for a much larger region in the parameter space and thus potentially in a shorter time. Relying on the geometrical measure of non-Markovianity, we show that in both the cases of an environment with and without memory the ergotropy maximum is obtained when the non-Markovianity of the dynamics of the battery is zero, possibly as the result of a non-trivial interplay between the memory effects induced by, respectively, the environment and the charger connected to the battery.
In general, a quantum battery unavoidably interacts with its surroundings. Here, we study memory effects on energy and ergotropy of a quantum battery in the framework of open system dynamics, where the battery and charger are individually allowed to access a bosonic environment. Our investigation shows that the battery can be fully charged and all the energy stored in the battery can be extracted in the presence of non-Markovian dynamics, in addition, its energy can be preserved for long times compared with Markovian dynamics. Our results indicate that memory effects can play a significant role in improving the performance of quantum batteries.
We investigate a two-qubit quantum battery where coherent charger-battery coupling competes with non-Markovian environmental interactions. By tuning the coupling strengths and detuning, we identify regimes in which environmental memory enhances energy storage and charging power, while strong dissipation suppresses ergotropy by driving the battery into passive states. We show that detuning plays a dual role: reducing dissipation and inducing a phase shift in the memory kernel that controls the interference between coherent energy exchange and environment-induced backflow. As a result, although the stored energy varies smoothly, the extractable work exhibits a discontinuous onset at a critical detuning, signaling a first-order phase transition in ergotropy. The corresponding phase diagram in the coupling-detuning plane reveals a sharp boundary between thermodynamically inactive and work-producing regimes. Our results demonstrate that phase-controlled coherence and non-Markovianity provide a powerful mechanism for optimizing work extraction in open quantum batteries, offering practical strategies for noise-resilient quantum energy storage.
Abstract Coupling with an external environment inevitably affects the dynamics of a quantum system. Here, we consider how charging performances of a quantum battery, modelled as a two level system, are influenced by the presence of an Ohmic thermal reservoir. The latter is coupled to both longitudinal and transverse spin components of the quantum battery including decoherence and pure dephasing mechanisms. Charging and discharging dynamics of the quantum battery, subjected to a static driving, are obtained exploiting a proper mapping into the so-called spin-boson model. Analytic expressions for the time evolution of the energy stored in the weak coupling regime are presented relying on a systematic weak damping expansion. Here, decoherence and pure dephasing dissipative coupling are discussed in details. We argue that the former results in better charging performances, showing also interesting features reminiscent of the Lamb shift level splitting renormalization induced by the presence of the reservoir. Charging stability is also addressed, by monitoring the energy behaviour after the charging protocol has been switched off. This study presents a general framework to investigate relaxation effects, able to include also non Markovian effects, and it reveals the importance of controlling and, possibly, engineering system-bath coupling in the realization of quantum batteries.