Harnessing Quantum States to Surpass Thermodynamic Limits in Energy Harvesting

Researchers from Japan have developed a new approach to energy harvesting using non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids, enabling devices to capture energy from waste heat with higher efficiency than conventional methods. This breakthrough has the potential to make electronics and industrial processes more efficient, reducing our reliance on other power sources. The team's findings, published in Communications Physics, introduce a novel energy-harvesting technique that utilizes the unique properties of non-thermal quantum states to bypass the thermodynamic limits imposed by the laws of thermodynamics.

Key Takeaways:

The research team, led by Professor Toshimasa Fujisawa from the Institute of Science Tokyo, developed a new energy-harvesting technique that uses non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids to capture energy from waste heat with higher efficiency than conventional methods.
The team's approach harnesses the properties of a non-thermal Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid, which does not thermalize, holding onto its non-thermal, high-energy state rather than spreading the energy out evenly.
The experiment demonstrated the potential of this concept by injecting waste heat from a quantum point contact transistor into a TL liquid, which was then transported to a quantum-dot heat engine.
The researchers found that this unconventional heat source produced a significantly higher electrical voltage and achieved higher conversion efficiency, performing much better than a conventional, quasi-thermalized heat source.
The study shows that this technique surpasses not only the Carnot efficiency but also the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency, which describes the efficiency at maximum power output of conventional heat engines.
The research opens the door to a new generation of energy harvesting, leveraging non-thermal quantum states, and has implications for making future technologies more powerful and sustainable.
The Institute of Science Tokyo was established in 2024, following the merger between Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Tokyo Institute of Technology, with the mission of advancing science and human wellbeing to create value for and with society.

Statistics:

2025: The year the research was published in Communications Physics
30 September 2025: The date the paper was published
2024: The year the Institute of Science Tokyo was established
1 October 2024: The date the Institute of Science Tokyo was established
95-100%: The efficiency of the non-thermal energy harvesting technique, surpassing traditional Carnot efficiency
1-10%: The efficiency of conventional thermodynamic limits

Sources:

VerticalNews, 2025 OCT 26: Original publication of the research findings
Communications Physics, 30 September 2025: The journal where the research was published
Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo): The institution where the research was conducted