--- title: "Scientists Create Electronic Gadget Powered by Quantum Tunneling" description: "A team of researchers have created a sensor that can function for an entire year with a single tiny jumpstart of power by using quantum tunneling." date: "2020-11-23" modified: "2020-11-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-create-electronic-gadget-quantum-tunnelling" categories: - "Physics" - "Quantum Physics" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "quantum" - "quantum behavior" - "quantum tunneling" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Create Electronic Gadget Powered by Quantum Tunneling ![A team of researchers have created a sensor that can function for an entire year with a single tiny jumpstart of power by using quantum tunneling.]() *\Image: Image via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\* ## Keep It Going A team of researchers have created a sensor that they say can function for an entire year with a single jumpstart of power. To pull it off, the team harnessed the power of quantum tunneling. "Imagine there is an apple hanging from a tree," Shantanu Chakrabartty, research lead and author of [the paper]() published last month in the journal *Nature Communications,* said in [a statement](). "You can shake the tree a little bit, but the apple doesn’t fall. You have to give it enough of a tug to shake the apple loose." ## Breaking Barriers Chakrabartty's team built a device out of four capacitors, two transistors and a transducer that measures ambient micromotion. Then, by manipulating a tiny gap inside one of the capacitors, Chakrabartty says they overcame what's known as the "Fowler-Nordheim tunneling barrier." The resulting sensor was able to harness quantum tunneling to keep itself running for more than a year using an initial jumpstart of just 50 million electrons. ## Tiny Dancer Chakrabartty's tunneling barrier was built in just such a way that "you can control the flow of electrons. You can make it reasonably slow, down to one electron every minute and still keep it reliable." The team is hoping the technology could one day power glucose or even brain activity monitors without the need for batteries. "Right now, the platform is generic," Chakrabartty said. "It just depends on what you couple to the device. As long as you have a transducer that can generate an electrical signal, it can self-power our sensor-data-logger." **READ MORE:** [This Weird, Cheap Quantum Device Can Run For a Year With a Single Kick of Energy]() \[*Science Alert*\] **More on quantum tunneling:** *[Scientists Create Quantum System That Stays Operational 10,000 Longer]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()