Tuning into solar power with nanoantennas

A nanoscale antenna that can collect light and convert it into a current shows promise for energy harvesting applications, say its US developers. These nanoantennas could be combined with conventional solar cells to increase the portion of visible light that they can turn into electricity.

Just as a car antenna can pick up radio waves, an optical nanoantenna can receive light waves. Naomi Halas and colleagues at Rice University in Houston have taken the concept of the optical nanoantenna one stage further to make a photosensor. They combined nanoantennas that detect light, with a photodiode that converts light energy into an electrical current.