A submicron device to rectify a square-wave angular velocity.

We study a system composed of two thick dielectric disks separated by a thin layer of an electrolyte solution. Initially both plates have the same surface charge distribution. The surface charge distribution has no rotational symmetry. We show that the top plate experiences a torque [Formula: see text]([Formula: see text]) if it rotates about its axis by an angle [Formula: see text] . The torque can be controlled by varying the electrolyte concentration, the separation and the surface charge density of the plates. For a specific example of charged rods attached to the plates, we find [Formula: see text]([Formula: see text]) [Formula: see text] sin(4[Formula: see text]) . We also study the dynamics of the system. We consider the case where the angular velocity of the bottom disk is a square-wave signal. We find that the average angular velocity of the top disk is not zero.