Wireless non-radiative energy transfer
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsJohn D. Joannopoulos, Aristeidis Karalis, Marin Soljacic
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Abstract
Described herein are embodiments of a source high-Q resonator, optionally coupled to an energy source, a second high-Q resonator, optionally coupled to an energy drain that may be located a distance from the source resonator. A third high-Q resonator, optionally coupled to an energy drain that may be located a distance from the source resonator. The source resonator and at least one of the second resonator and third resonator may be coupled to transfer electromagnetic energy from said source resonator to said at least one of the second resonator and third resonator.
Claims19
A method of transferring electromagnetic energy comprising:
- providing a first resonator structure receiving energy from an external power supply, said first resonator structure has a first Q-factor Q1,
- providing a second resonator structure being positioned distal from said first resonator structure and supplying useful working power to an external load, said second resonator structure has a second Q-factor Q2,
- transferring non-radiative energy between the first resonator structure and the second resonator structure through coupling of their resonant-field evanescent tails,
- wherein the resonator structures use resonant modes of high Q=ω/(2Γ) for low intrinsic-loss rates Γ1,2 and with evanescent tails significantly longer than the characteristic sizes L1 and L2 of the two resonators structures for the non-radiative energy transfer,
- characterized in that Q1>100, and Q2>100, and
- κ/sqrt(Γ1*Γ2)>2, where κ is the coupling rate for the non-radiative energy transfer.
An electromagnetic energy transfer device comprising:
- a first resonator structure receiving energy from an external power supply, said first resonator structure has a first Q-factor Q1 and is for use together with
- a second resonator structure positioned distal from said first resonator structure and supplying useful working power to an external load, said second resonator structure has a second Q-factor Q2,
- wherein non-radiative energy transfer between said first resonator structure and said second resonator structure is mediated through coupling of their resonant-field evanescent tails,
- wherein the resonator structures use resonant modes of high Q=ω/(2Γ) for low intrinsic-loss rates Γ1,2,
- characterized in that Q1>100, and Q2>100, and
- κ/sqrt(Γ1*Γ2)>2, where κ is the coupling rate for the non-radiative energy transfer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.