China has successfully built the first quantum engine using quantum entanglement.

Instead of using heat-generating energy like traditional engines, the new engine uses a unique property of quantum.

While the word "quantum" is increasingly appearing in almost every field of modern technology, from quantum computers, quantum hard drives, quantum internet. But scientists also want to exploit the strange properties of quantum mechanics, to turn its power into a new type of engine to replace the conventional internal combustion engine.

Although still a relatively new technology, there are already a few versions of this type of engine. Last year, scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology developed a quantum engine that uses the 'quantum nature of particles' to replace the heat source that powers the engine. The engine achieved 25 percent efficiency—not much better than current engines, but not too bad for a relatively new technology.

Scientists want to turn quantum into a new type of engine to replace conventional internal combustion engines. (Illustration photo).

But recently, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed another method to create a quantum engine by taking advantage of another strange quantum property: quantum entanglement. This is considered the most prominent feature of quantum, which is a state that occurs when two quantum particles are in a superposition , meaning that their information is tightly linked to each other - no matter how far apart they are.

Imagine you and a friend share a pair of gloves and each of you holds one, but you don't know which one you're holding. If you open them and find that you're holding the left glove, you immediately know that your friend is holding the right glove, even if your friend is on the other side of the world. This is a simplified metaphor to illustrate the interconnectedness of quantum entanglement.

The research uses calcium atoms in an ion trap, and essentially exploits the thermodynamic process that occurs when particles move from their initial state to a highly entangled state. The results of this research were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

'The highlight of our research is that we have successfully realized for the first time a quantum engine with the properties of quantum entanglement , ' Zhou Fei, a co-author of the study, told the South China Morning Post. ' It has quantitatively verified that quantum entanglement can act as a kind of 'fuel' .'

Unlike traditional internal combustion engines that rely on combustion to generate heat, the Chinese scientists' quantum engine uses lasers to convert particles into a quantum state, converting light into mechanical energy as the particles oscillate.

Interestingly, it works like a regular four-stroke engine . First, the atoms absorb photons from a red laser. Then they expand, pair with a quantum charge, and compress again to prepare for the next cycle.

 This "engine" powered by quantum entanglement only operates at temperatures near absolute zero. (Illustration photo).

The new method does not improve the conversion efficiency compared to previous types of quantum engines, but the research demonstrates that it is still possible to produce useful energy. The team analyzed more than 10,000 experiments using calcium ions and found that higher levels of quantum entanglement resulted in better mechanical efficiency. While the conversion efficiency did not improve, the mechanical efficiency did improve, meaning more useful energy was produced for the same amount of energy input.

Like quantum computers, these entanglement-powered 'engines' only operate at temperatures close to absolute zero. But further research could make these engines and batteries capable of powering large-scale quantum computers and circuits. Only time will tell.

The advent of a quantum engine that can still be used marks a major step forward in harnessing the power of quantum mechanics for practical applications. Although there are still many challenges ahead, the potential of this technology is huge and we hope to soon see the emergence of powerful quantum engines and devices that could change the way we use and generate energy in the future.