Quantum Energy Harvesters Power the Next Generation

Researchers from the Institute of Science, Tokyo, have developed a way to improve energy harvesters for electronics. Their novel approach utilizes quantum mechanics to surpass the thermodynamic limits found in traditional energy harvesting systems. As such, their work has the potential to transform wasted energy into a viable power source for tomorrow’s high-tech devices. Here’s what you need to know.

Energy Harvesting

Energy harvesting is an established theory that simply refers to converting wasted energy given off by the surroundings or technologies into power for other devices. In the past, this science involved concepts like utilizing the difference in temperature between the ocean’s surface and its deeper areas to generate power. One famous example of energy harvesting in action would be Nikola Tesla’s energy tower, which could power a lightbulb without any wires.

Today, energy harvesting is a growing scientific field that explores harvesting energy waste from a variety of areas. Some examples include thermal gradients, RF signals, and computing hardware, all the way up to entire power plants. One of the main advantages of energy harvesting is that it provides an affordable and sustainable way to improve efficiency and lower costs. Consequently, it’s growing in popularity.

Challenges Limiting Modern Energy Harvesting Efficiency

Energy harvesting technologies continue to improve. However, there are still several limitations that scientists will need to overcome to achieve optimal performance. For one, traditional energy-harvesting technologies are bound to the laws of thermodynamics, including:

Carnot Efficiency

One of the main restricting factors limiting energy harvesting today is known as Carnot efficiency. This law of thermodynamics describes maximum thermal transfer capabilities and efficiency between separate heat reservoirs. This percentage enables scientists to predict exactly how much energy can be produced from waste heat.

Curzon-Ahlborn Efficiency

The Curzon-Ahlborn Efficiency is another vital law that has limited the effectiveness of energy harvesters as well. It’s used to define the maximum efficiency that can be obtained at full power operations. This equation, alongside the Carnot Efficiency, is used by engineers to optimize and enhance energy harvesting devices.

Quantum Study to Improve Energy Harvesting Efficiency

Recognizing these limitations, an innovative team of researchers from Japan has taken a new approach to heat transfer technologies. The Efficient heat-energy conversion from a non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid¹ study published in Communications Physics introduces a new strategy that leverages quantum mechanics to surpass the limits of traditional thermodynamics.

Non-Thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquid

At the core of the study is the use of a Non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquid to capture and migrate heat energy. The use of Quantum heat engines has some major advantages. For example, these quantum heat engines leverage non-thermal reservoirs—here, a non-thermal Tomonaga–Luttinger (TL) liquid—to extract more useful work than classical setups.

Quantum Hall Edge Channels (1D Transport)

By utilizing a quantum approach, the engineers could create a non-thermal state naturally within customized quantum Hall edge channels. This approach relies on carbon nanotubes to break the energy into one dimension.

Source – Institute of Science Tokyo

This approach enables a binary Fermi distribution function of the non-thermal state. This state is naturally induced by entropy-conserving equilibration. Notably, this quantum state is ideal because it does not undergo thermalization, reducing any wasted or escaped heat energy.

This strategy allows for the single-dimensional electron system to transfer the heat state directly. This approach retains the high-energy state without dispersing it like previous energy harvesting technologies. From there, the team created a computer model that can be used to design future energy harvesting technologies with greater efficiency.

Experimental Test of the Quantum Energy Harvester

As part of their research, the engineers created a working energy harvesting engine. The device integrated a non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger (TL) liquid strategy to transfer quantum-dot energy from a quantum-point-contact transistor.

This proof of concept captures heat created from the quantum point contact transistor directly into the liquid with maximum efficiency. Interestingly, the quantum dots transferred heat into the TL liquid over micrometer-scale distances, limiting dispersion.

Improving Energy Harvesters Test Results

The scientists were pleased to document their new approach successfully outperforming previous energy harvesting methods. The use of non-thermal TL liquid over quasi-thermalized TL liquid provided more electrical conversion efficiency, alongside a higher electromotive force.

Impressively, the quantum dot heat energy harvester managed to achieve an efficiency higher than both the Carnot efficiency and Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency limitations that hindered its predecessor. Consequently, this development marks a major milestone in energy harvesting and quantum technologies.
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Benefits of Quantum Energy Harvesting Technology

There are lots of benefits that this work brings to the sector. For one, it demonstrates a working high-performance alternative to traditional energy harvesting options. This solution can convert waste heat into electricity with record efficiency, opening the door for more powerful electronics, quantum devices, and more.

Real-World Applications and Timeline

The Improving Energy Harvesters study opens the door for more efficient and powerful energy harvesting technologies in the future. From space travel to keeping your smartphone cooler, this technology will change the way engineers create devices. Here are just a few potential applications.

Security

Security applications will greatly benefit from the ability to harvest wasted energy from locations and devices they are designed to monitor. Imagine power plants that have 24-hour security devices powered by the heat their turbines give off, versus power generated from the location’s electrical grid.

Medical

The medical field is sure to find use case scenarios for this technology. Advanced energy harvesting technologies are already in use in piezo-electronic wearables. In the future, quantum dot energy harvesters could help to keep low-power devices such as heart monitors functioning longer and without risk of battery contamination.

Logistics

The logistics sector will leverage this technology in the form of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Already, these tiny smart sensors have helped to reduce inefficiencies, fraud, and counterfeiting. However, they have been limited in their application due to power restraints. While some can rely on solar energy, the vast majority need batteries or a direct connection to the grid.

In the future, IoT devices will be able to generate energy from their surroundings. This strategy will enable them to be scaled, enabling more efficient monitoring of the massive billion-dollar logistics industry. Additionally, it will lower costs associated with tracking and securing devices.

Space Exploration

Space exploration is one of the sectors that could get the most out of this technology in the future. Already, there’s a lot of work going into discovering reliable methods to power space colonies. This latest work opens the door to energy harvesting options for future astronauts and explorers needing lightweight alternatives.

Improving Energy Harvesters Timeline

It will be +10 years before you see a quantum energy harvesting engine in use in your electronic devices. However, the technology could get fast-tracked for military, space, and medical purposes. If so, commercial options could start to emerge within the next 5-7 years.

Improving Energy Harvesters Researchers

The improving energy harvesters study was a collaboration between the Department of Physics at the Institute of Science, Tokyo, and NTT Basic Research Laboratories. The paper lists Professor Toshimasa Fujisawa as the lead researcher with support from Researcher Koji Muraki.

Additional research and assistance were provided by Hikaru Yamazaki, Masashi Uemura, Haruhi Tanaka, Tokuro Hata, Chaojing Lin, and Takafumi Akiho.  Additionally, funding for the project was provided by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Improving Energy Harvesters’ Future

The future of energy harvesters looks exciting. This technology will be essential to maximizing global energy efficiency and achieving net-zero carbon goals set out by the Paris Agreement. For now, the team will work on improving their design and finding manufacturing partners to expand their operations.

Investing in the Advanced Energy Sector

There are several companies competing in the energy harvesters sector. These firms seek to reduce pollution and help reclaim lost energy through their unique devices. Here’s one company that continues to show an innovative spirit while delivering reliable products and services.

Energy Vault

Energy Vault entered the market in 2017 to provide alternative energy sources for communities. The company’s founders, Robert Allen Piconi and William Gross, envisioned utilizing gravitational potential energy to create energy via a crane system.

This unique approach caught the attention of investors and researchers from launch. In 2019, the company won Fast Company’s World Changing Idea Award due to its unique design and approach to off-grid storage methods. Notably, the firm went on to build a working crane electrical storage energy system in Castione-Arbedo, Switzerland, in 2020.

The working model demonstrated some limitations that caused the company to pivot towards new options, including an elevator version called the G-Vault. Like the crane version, it stores energy by lifting and lowering blocks.

Today, Energy Vault has innovative concepts in a variety of energy storage and production sectors. Recently, the company has expanded into hybrid storage methods, hydrogen batteries, and other next-gen technologies. Those seeking to gain exposure to future energy markets should do more research into Energy Vault.

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Improving Energy Harvesters | Conclusion

The work done by these researchers opens the door for a cleaner and more efficient future. The use of quantum mechanics to overcome certain laws of thermodynamics demonstrates how this technology will help to create new opportunities moving forward. Consequently, this team deserves praise for their hard work and eye-opening discoveries.

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References

^{1. Yamazaki, H., Uemura, M., Tanaka, H., Hata, T., Lin, C., Akiho, T., Muraki, K., & Fujisawa, T. (2025). Efficient heat-energy conversion from a non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid. Communications Physics, 8(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-025-02297-6}