# Microscopic antennas covert light into electricity **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016 "2004-09-19T18:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016/1 "2004-09-19T18:10:56Z")
I read [an interesting article](http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=AZQWC31EPA4YACRBAEKSFFA?type=scienceNews&storyID=6268375) yesterday about tiny antennas made of carbon nanotubes which are capable of converting light directly into electricity. There are even [pictures](http://www.aip.org/png/2004/221.htm) of these things on another web site. Thing is, I heard about a similar concept years ago (mid 1990’s or so). At the time it was hailed as a potential revolution in solar power, theoretically capable of delivering near-100% efficiency as opposed to the 15%-or-worse seen with photovoltaic solar cells these days. I’m not sure how these older micro-antennas were constructed. I doubt it was carbon nanotubes because I’m pretty sure those didn’t exist back then. Whatever they were, they never made it out of the lab, and I never heard anything about them again. So, my question is this - what was the deal with that older, similar technology and what ever became of it? Should I put on my tinfoil hat and accuse the oil companies of suppressing yet another cheap, clean energy source 😉 or were there issues that kept the technology from ever becoming practical for mass production? And what about this new technology? Could this be the key to widespread adoption of solar power? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016/2 "2004-09-19T20:59:14Z")
> [@pestie](#): > > I read[an interesting article](http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=AZQWC31EPA4YACRBAEKSFFA?type=scienceNews&storyID=6268375) yesterday about tiny antennas made of carbon nanotubes which are capable of converting light directly into electricity. There are even [pictures](http://www.aip.org/png/2004/221.htm) of these things on another web site.So, my question is this - what was the deal with that older, similar technology and what ever became of it? Should I put on my tinfoil hat and accuse the oil companies of suppressing yet another cheap, clean energy source 😉 or were there issues that kept the technology from ever becoming practical for mass production? And what about this new technology? Could this be the key to widespread adoption of solar power? Read the article again, carefully, and take note of the liberal use of words like may, might, and They say. It is merely speculation, NOT an announcement of accomplished research. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016/3 "2004-09-19T21:15:16Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > It is merely speculation, NOT an announcement of accomplished research. Wrong. The article definitely implies that an actual device was built. And some searching turned up another, more technical article [here](http://newton.ex.ac.uk/aip/latest.html): > [@](#): > > Nevertheless, a rudimentary antenna effect for visible light has now been observed by scientists at Boston College using an array of carbon nanotubes, in which infalling light excites miniature electrical currents. According to Yang Wang (wangyq@bc.edu,617-552-3436) one would like to measure these electrical excitations directly, but this requires nano-diodes capable of processing electrical pulses oscillating at optical frequencies (10^15 Hz), and these are not yet available. The next best thing is to observe the secondary radiation emitted by the faint excitations. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016/4 "2004-09-19T21:54:17Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Wrong. The article definitely implies that an actual device was built. And some searching turned up another, more technical article [here](http://newton.ex.ac.uk/aip/latest.html): The articles in toto report on the observation of a phenomenom. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016/5 "2004-09-20T02:41:55Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > The articles in toto report on the observation of a phenomenom. Well, no shit. But, you can’t observe a phenomenon unless there’s something there _to_ observe. Read the articles again, and this time, sound out the big words. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016/6 "2004-09-20T11:28:34Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Well, no shit. But, you can’t observe a phenomenon unless there’s something there _to_ observe. Read the articles again, and this time, sound out the big words. “Researchers said on Friday they have invented an antenna that captures visible light in much the same way that radio antennas capture radio waves.” I have not attempted to belittle the work of the researchers. This is indeed ground breaking research. The rest of the articles are editorial hype. Practical applications of the phenomenon are still months to years away. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microscopic-antennas-covert-light-into-electricity/265016/7 "2004-09-20T14:03:41Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > Practical applications of the phenomenon are still months to years away. Agreed. However, I was taking issue with your contention that the work was “merely speculation”.