SYDNEY, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have extended quantum battery energy storage time 1,000-fold in a major breakthrough in quantum battery technology.
The team devised a new method enabling quantum batteries, which store energy through quantum superposition and electron-light interactions, not chemical reactions, to hold energy for microseconds rather than nanoseconds, according to a release by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) published on Science Media Exchange website on Wednesday.
The study, published in Physical Review X Energy by the American Physical Society, reports that the highest efficiency was achieved when two specific energy levels were precisely matched in the five tested prototypes, greatly improving energy storage performance.
"While a working quantum battery could still be some time away, this experimental study has allowed us to design the next iteration of devices," said the study's co-author, RMIT chemical physicist Daniel Gomez.
The team consisting of researchers from the RMIT University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia's national science agency, hopes that quantum batteries could one day boost the efficiency of solar cells and power small electronic devices, Gomez said. ■
