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Quantum Batteries Promise Lightning-Fast Charging Speeds

“Our battery architecture is blind to the
specific implementation, but we knew we
wanted to create a scalable, fully fledged
solid-state quantum battery,” he said. “Our
expertise lies in solid-state qubits, so we
decided to work here.”
The task now is to demonstrate that the
setup can reliably store energy while exper-
imentally determining charging speeds and
how much energy is actually being held. “We
also want to prevent a quick discharge [from
the qubits],” Polini said.
The researchers are also working on
electrical tunability so that the device can
be charged and discharged at the flick of an
electrical switch, rather than, say, relying on
focused laser light to excite the qubits, as has
taken place in other architectures.
“We believe this is crucial,” Polini said.
“Any transistor in any integrated circuit is
electrically controlled … and we really want
to control the super-absorption of our qubits
Giovannetti (left) and Polini have spent decades working out the best ways to harness and [overall] energy storage in the device in
quantum effects. (Source: Planckian) this way.”
Polini wouldn’t specify when these “short-
term tasks” will be achieved, but it is clear
Institute for Basic Science in South Korea confirmed charging speeds that the future steps will be to explore how best to scale up the device
could scale disproportionately with the number of cells making up a toward applications. In the meantime, the Planckian chief scientist
quantum battery. Their studies also showed that while the energy stored remains “very concerned about the science.”
in the battery developed by Quach and colleagues was small, the “I really think we need to look at the quantum technology business
system’s energy density matched that of a common lead-acid car in a very different way to other businesses,” he said. “At one point, I
battery. 3 heard promises of quantum laptops in 2023—but we really have to be
The promising findings stirred excitement over the eventual pros- humble and work hard.”
pect of instant iPhone charging and drive-through electric-vehicle Polini was quick to add, however, that researchers in the quantum
charging stations, with more research teams from around the world energy field do not face the same daunting challenges as their quantum
publishing studies on quantum batteries and proposing new architec- computing peers. “We are
tures and efficient charging schemes. Experimental setups have not Planckian co-founder not doing logical operations;
just relied on dye molecules as qubits but have used metal carboxyl- we’re storing energy, so we
ates, semiconductor quantum dots, superconducting materials, defects Marco Polini believes don’t need to [create] ultra-
in diamonds, trapped ions and more. Very recently, researchers from tangible results of the sophisticated qubits and
China’s Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering achieve fault-tolerant error
managed to charge and discharge a prototype based on a single super- still-new technology are correction,” he said. “If we
conducting qutrit—a quantum system with three energy levels rather have a number of qubits, and
than the qubit’s two levels. 4 coming soon. not all are in their excited
Amid all the quantum buzz, Planckian received its pre-seed funds, energy state because of some
shining an even brighter spotlight on the field. small mistake during charging, then we just have a little less energy.
We can live with that.”
SOLID FOUNDATION He added, “Interest in the new frontiers of quantum physics has
Planckian was co-founded as a spinoff from the University of Pisa and never been so strong … and we’re now seeing enough interest and
Scuola Normale Superiore by Polini, a condensed matter physicist, maturity in our technology for investors” to commit to funding. “We
as CSO and Vittorio Giovannetti, a quantum scientist, as scientific consider this a challenging and ambitious endeavor … [but] the time
adviser, along with business development and investment man- has come to develop these new technologies.” ■
ager Michele Dallari as CEO. Between them, longstanding research
partners Polini and Giovannetti, respectively affiliated with Pisa and REFERENCES
Scuola Normale Superiore, have amassed multiple decades of scien- 1 Ferraro et al. (March 2018). “High-Power Collective Charging of a Solid-State
tific investigation. Polini asserts that Planckian is the first company Quantum Battery.” Physical Review Letters, 120(11), 117702.
dedicated to developing quantum batteries, and indeed the pre-seed tinyurl.com/53vm3zmr
funding from European firms Eureka Venture, CDP Venture Capital, 2 Quach et al. (January 2022). “Superabsorption in an organic microcavity: Toward
Tech4Planet and Exor Ventures places the startup at the forefront of a quantum battery.” Science Advances, 8(2). tinyurl.com/2f2wy9za
the field. 3 Gyhm et al. (April 2022). “Quantum Charging Advantage Cannot Be Extensive
Polini said the Planckian team spent some time working out what without Global Operations.” Physical Review Letters, 128(14), 140501.
they believed would be the most promising technology for the com- tinyurl.com/kdxbym8k
pany’s quantum batteries before settling on solid-state qubits in a 4 Hu et al. (August 2022). “Optimal charging of a superconducting quantum
microwave cavity. battery.” Quantum Science and Technology, 7(4), 045018. tinyurl.com/bdes9zpn

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