Researchers in Australia have engineered a proof‑of‑concept microcavity quantum battery that can charge, store and discharge energy — the closest step yet toward a working quantum battery. The small layered organic device can be instantaneously charged wirelessly using a laser.
While more conventional batteries rely on chemical reactions, the quantum architecture uses quantum superposition and interactions between electrons and light, offering the prospect of faster charging and enhanced storage capacity. Complete quantum battery charge-discharge cycles were demonstrated at room temperature.
The multi-layered microcavity design was tuned to the resonant frequency of the ground to first-excited singlet transition of copper phthalocyanine as the absorber molecule, resulting in strong light-matter coupling. Application of ultrafast spectroscopy revealed that the charging rate scales extensively with the number of absorber molecules. Upon charging, the energy is rapidly transferred to a metastable triplet state in these absorber molecules.
When the quantum battery system with triplets is placed in a device based on a photodiode, to include electrodes and charge-carrying layers, the absorbed energy can be extracted as an electrical current.
Scientists from RMIT University, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the University of Melbourne participated in this research, which is published in Light: Science & Applications.
