A professor and a graduate student from Stanford has made a way to wirelessly charge devices at around 1 meter away. Besides being able to charge devices at a farther distance, it also tackles other problems that wireless charging currently has.
Quantum mechanics and wireless charging
This works because of something called the parity-time symmetry from quantum mechanics. The symmetry talks about a mirror-image of our universe where everything is reflected by a plane and all momentum is reversed.
Following this, Professor Shanhui Fan along with a team from Stanford University has made two pizza-sized coils for the transmitter and receiver. At the moment, wireless charging only has a range of about an inch at most. Also, the distance between the two coils affects how much power is being sent to the receiver.
The Stanford experiment showed wireless power transfer at a maximum range of around 1 meter. The power being transferred was also consistent with the covered distance. Another problem with wireless charging is the power loss incurred during the transfer. The efficiency of the current wireless charging technology is at about 85 percent and tops out at 95 percent. The test conducted by Stanford can
The efficiency of the current wireless charging technology is at about 85 percent and tops out at 95 percent. The test conducted by Stanford can have roughly 100 percent efficiency, which is exactly what we want.
They are currently envisioning this technology to be used to wirelessly charge electric vehicles. This could be planted under roads, parking spots, or garage. They also see this being used inside rooms such as a cafeteria. Anyone with a smartphone that is compatible will charge while in the room. This is a huge step towards advancing wireless charging to a point of full convenience.
What do you think they could add to this new way of wireless charging? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!