Not Alkaline, Not Lithium: This New Battery Could Be The Future Of Fast Changing

An increasing number of batteries rely on lithium-ion technology. These batteries last longer than alkaline-powered ones because, among other reasons, you can recharge them. However, the process takes time. Some devices have the option to "fast charge" the battery (which isn't that bad for battery life), but even that is slow compared to a new technology that fills quantum batteries using the power of lasers.

Recently, researchers in Australia announced that they made an important step forward in the field of "quantum batteries." The study, published in Light: Science & Applications, demonstrated they could use a powerful laser pulse to shower the battery's "optical microcavity," which is filled with photodiode solar cells, to produce a "superabsorption" event. The charging rate was so fast that researchers could only measure it using ultrafast spectroscopy, which is used to examine events in the nanosecond to femtosecond (10^-9 seconds to 10^-15 seconds) ranges. Blinking moves at a glacial pace compared to this process.

Unlike conventional batteries or solid-state batteries, quantum batteries, as their name implies, use quantum mechanics (a semi-theoretical field of physics that states certain microscopic objects are both particles and energy) to store and provide electricity. The battery's nature of leveraging a field of physics that stretches our understanding of reality is what allows the device to absorb energy and charge at speeds most people can't comprehend.

The Australian quantum battery is only the latest in a long line of studies designed to harness quantum mechanics. Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences designed an engine that runs on quantum entanglement, and like that device, this new quantum battery has a long way to go before it's ready for widespread use.

While the quantum battery can charge faster than you can blink, it can't retain this energy for very long. According to the study, the power only persists for several nanoseconds or femtoseconds — even less when a similar battery is used at room temperature. Comparatively, quantum batteries that use nuclear magnetic resonance architecture (nuclei are forced to align and spin when placed in strong enough magnetic fields) last longer, albeit for a whopping two minutes. Nowhere near enough time for the average person to get any practical use out of them.

Ultimately, the study only exists as a proof of concept. The Australian team of researchers is confident that quantum batteries (and other quantum-based systems) could power technology in the future. Perhaps these energy sources hold the key to helping make real-life quantum computers a reality? Still, future iterations of the batteries will need to function at room temperature, and the technology must be adapted to hold different amounts of charge and reside in differently sized batteries. At the very least, the Australian researchers have developed a roadmap for subsequent quantum battery studies.