Dead cables turn wireless

NEWS from Valencia, suggests we’re getting ever closer to technology that means we can eventually throw away all the cables and chargers for our mobile phones, laptops and tablets and charge them via wireless technology.

Researchers at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) in Spain have designed a device for wireless energy transfer. It is based on the use of resonators designed with radial photonic crystals. One of them acts as an energy transmitter and the other as a receiver on the device that needs to be charged.

Between them a phenomena known as resonant coupling is produced, which is what finally produces the charging or recharging of equipment.

“This phenomena is produced when a resonant object is moved closer to a second resonant element and both resonance frequencies are equal or quite similar,” said Jose Sanchez-Dehesa, researcher at the Wave Phenomena Group at UPV.

“This physical proximity produces an energy coupling from the first device, that acts as the source, to the second one, that acts as the charge,” Sanchez-Dehesa said.

The first prototype of the system is under development, researchers said.