Experimental Measurements of Electric Fields in Diodic Air Gaps: Toward a Second Law Challenge.

Over the last ten years, researchers at USD have investigated a series of challenges to the second law of thermodynamics that involve the exploitation of intense vacuum electric fields generated by solid-state diodic contacts [1, 2, 3]. Although theoretical arguments and numerical simulations supported the existence of these fields, experimental verification had been lacking. This article reviews the theoretical basis for these diodic electric fields and details recent laboratory experiments that have verified their location, intensity, and rechargability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]