Energy-harvesting design aims to turn Wi-Fi signals into usable power

Date posted
Funding Agency
(Funded by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Research Office)

Any device that sends out a Wi-Fi signal also emits terahertz waves — electromagnetic waves with a frequency somewhere between microwaves and infrared light. Now, physicists at MIT have come up with a blueprint for a device they believe would be able to convert ambient terahertz waves into a direct current, a form of electricity that powers many household electronics. Their design takes advantage of the quantum mechanical behavior of graphene.