Quantum tech is green.
New magnetic field sensors that are highly sensitive and sensitive have replaced the need for power-hungry, laser-powered devices with sunlight. Lasers can gobble 100 watts or so of power — like keeping a bright lightbulb burning. This innovation could free quantum sensors from this energy requirement. The end result is Prototype environmentally friendlyIn a forthcoming issue, researchers report on technology at the forefront. Physical Review X Energy.
The big twist is in HowThe device makes use of sunlight. It doesn’t use solar cells to convert light into electricity. Instead, the sunlight does the job of the laser’s light, says Jiangfeng Du, a physicist at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei.
Quantum magnetometers are often equipped with a powerful green laser that measures magnetic fields. The laser shines on a Diamond containing atomic defects (SN: 2/26/08). When nitrogen atoms replace carbon atoms, the defects are caused. The green laser causes the fluoresce of nitrogen defects, emitting red light whose intensity is affected by the strength and directionality of the magnetic fields.
The quantum sensor also needs green light. There’s plenty of that in sunlight, as seen in the green wavelengths reflected from tree leaves and grass. Du and his colleagues used a 15 cm wide lens to collect sunlight to replace the laser. After filtering the light, Du and colleagues focused it on a diamond containing nitrogen atom defects. The result is red fluorescence, which reveals magnetic fields strengths as well as laser-equipped magnetometers.
It is possible to change energy types. Solar cells produce electricity when they capture sunlight.It is an inherently inefficient and inefficient processSN: 7/26/17). According to the researchers, avoiding sunlight to electricity conversion to power lasers is three times more efficient that using solar cells for this purpose.
“I’ve never seen any other reports that connect solar research to quantum technologies,” says Yen-Hung Lin, a physicist at the University of Oxford who was not involved with the study. “It might well ignite a spark of interest in this unexplored direction, and we could see more interdisciplinary research in the field of energy.”
Researchers believe that quantum devices sensitive to electric fields and pressure could also benefit from the sun-driven approach. In particular, space-based quantum technology might use the intense sunlight available outside Earth’s atmosphere to provide light tailored for quantum sensors. The remaining light, in wavelengths that the quantum sensors don’t use, could be relegated to solar cells that power electronics to process the quantum signals.
The first step in the integration of quantum and environmentally-sustainable technology is the sunlight-driven magnetometer. “In the current state, this device is primarily for developmental purposes,” Du says. “We expect that the devices will be used for practical purposes. But [is] lots of work to be done.”
