Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Applied physics

Wireless power on the move

Nature volume 546, pages 354–355 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Most state-of-the-art methods of wireless energy delivery are inherently limited to static devices. An approach based on fundamental physics could overcome this limitation, opening up a wealth of applications. See Letter p.387

The concept of wireless energy transmission dates back to the pioneering work of Nikola Tesla about a century ago1,2. Yet the idea re-emerged only in the past few decades, motivated by the increasing number of battery-operated electronic devices — from toothbrushes to tablet computers and medical implants. One of the latest proposals, termed resonant wireless power transfer, enables the efficient cordless transmission of electric power to a stationary device3,4. But with the rapid development of electric vehicles, it would be beneficial to efficiently deliver electricity to moving devices. On page 387, Assawaworrarit et al.5 report an ingenious strategy to address this issue, using a concept from fundamental physics called parity–time symmetry.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Two methods of wireless power transfer.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Tesla, N. US patent 1,119,732 (1914).

  2. Wheeler, L. P. Electr. Eng. 62, 355–357 (1943).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Karalis, A., Joannopoulos, J. D. & Soljačić, M. Ann. Phys. 323, 34–48 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Kurs, A. et al. Science 317, 83–86 (2007).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Assawaworrarit, S., Yu, X. & Fan, S. Nature 546, 387–390 (2017).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Song, M., Belov, P. & Kapitanova, P. Appl. Phys. Rev. 4, 021102 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bender, C. M. & Boettcher, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5243–5246 (1998).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bender, C. M., Brody, D. C. & Jones, H. F. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 270401 (2002).

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. El-Ganainy, R., Makris, K. G., Christodoulides, D. N. & Musslimani, Z. H. Opt. Lett. 32, 2632–2634 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Liertzer, M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 173901 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Feng, L., Wong, Z. J., Ma, R.-M., Wang, Y. & Zhang, X. Science 346, 972–975 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Hodaei, H., Miri, M.-A., Heinrich, M., Christodoulides, D. N. & Khajavikhan, M. Science 346, 975–978 (2014).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Langevin Institute, CNRS and ESPCI Paris, Paris, 75005, France

    Geoffroy Lerosey

Authors
  1. Geoffroy Lerosey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geoffroy Lerosey.

Related audio

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Optical physics: One ring to multiplex them all

Technology: Photonics illuminates the future of radar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lerosey, G. Wireless power on the move. Nature 546, 354–355 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/546354a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/546354a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing