If you ever watched “Back to the Future,” there was a capricious scientist who developed a time machine powered by a flux capacitor. Back in that time, many of us wished it was a real thing. And it looks like we have a good news. Physicists from Australia and Switzerland have proposed a real-life flux capacitor.
According to the research, which was published in Physical Review Letters, the device is basically a new type of electronic circulator, which can control the direction of which a microwave signal move. The researchers built the device form a superconductor, which lets the electricity flow without electrical resistance.
“We propose two different possible circuits, one of which resembles the iconic three-pointed-star design of the cinematic flux capacitor (See images),” said the Centre for Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies (FLEET) Associate Investigator Professor Jared Cole. “In it, quantum ‘tubes’ of magnetic flux can move around a central capacitor by a process known as quantum tunneling, where they overcome classically insurmountable obstacles.”
The device combines magnetic fields and electrical charges, which leads to something known as broken time-reversal symmetry. This means “signals circulate around the circuit in only one direction, much like cars on a roundabout,” said Professor Tom Stace of the University of Queensland.
Unfortunately, this device won’t let you time travel. However, this proposed device could be a blessing for quantum computing, where individual parts are extremely sensitive. Besides, it could lead to better electronics for better mobile antenna and WiFi, as well as improved radar.