The progressive miniaturization of devices devoted to energy manipulation and storage calls for extending thermodynamic concepts towards regimes where quantum effects become unavoidable. In this context, quantum thermodynamics provides the proper framework for understanding and exploiting non-classical effects for energy applications. Within this framework, we present a comprehensive review of the role played by spin systems as versatile platforms for quantum energy technologies, focusing on their dual role as Quantum Thermal Machines and Quantum Batteries. We discuss how the combination of discrete spectra, engineered interactions and long coherence times enables the realization of high-performance quantum devices. We then highlight how genuinely quantum features can be exploited to achieve performance beyond classical limits. Beyond theoretical developments, we review the rapid experimental progress across leading spin platforms, including nuclear magnetic resonance systems, trapped ions, nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond and superconducting circuits, which are bringing quantum energy devices from conceptual proposals to actual realizations. By presenting a unified spin-based framework that integrates energy conversion and storage, this review outlines the foundations of the emerging field of quantum energy and identifies key challenges and future directions for scalable quantum energy technologies.
The progressive miniaturization of devices devoted to energy manipulation and storage calls for extending thermodynamic concepts towards regimes where quantum effects become unavoidable. In this context, quantum thermodynamics provides the proper framework for understanding and exploiting non-classical effects for energy applications. Within this framework, we present a comprehensive review of the role played by spin systems as versatile platforms for quantum energy technologies, focusing on their dual role as Quantum Thermal Machines and Quantum Batteries. We discuss how the combination of discrete spectra, engineered interactions and long coherence times enables the realization of high-performance quantum devices. We then highlight how genuinely quantum features can be exploited to achieve performance beyond classical limits. Beyond theoretical developments, we review the rapid experimental progress across leading spin platforms, including nuclear magnetic resonance systems, trapped ions, nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond and superconducting circuits, which are bringing quantum energy devices from conceptual proposals to actual realizations. By presenting a unified spin-based framework that integrates energy conversion and storage, this review outlines the foundations of the emerging field of quantum energy and identifies key challenges and future directions for scalable quantum energy technologies.
Recent advances in quantum information and quantum thermodynamics have reshaped the understanding of energy storage at the microscopic scale, paving the way toward protocols for storing and transferring energy in quantum devices. These systems, known as quantum batteries, offer a conceptual alternative to conventional macroscopic chemical batteries by exploiting quantum coherence, correlations, and many-body dynamics. By navigating the landscape of established spin-based quantum batteries, we review existing charging and work-extraction protocols, as well as the impact of external factors on their performance. Motivated by Floquet-engineered proposals, we further establish a connection between continuously and periodically driven spin chains as platforms for quantum energy storage. Finally, we survey experimental realizations and proposals, highlighting their implementability and scalability in current and near-term quantum technologies.
Batteries are fundamental components of nowadays technologies and play a crucial role in our daily lives. Varying greatly in size and capacity, they are devices capable of storing energy, supplied from an external system, and releasing it in a controlled manner to a user system. Despite the impressive technological improvements over the past two centuries, the batteries we currently use still rely on the electrochemical principles exploited by A. Volta at the end of the 18th century. However, the constant miniaturization of electronic devices calls for the realization of increasingly smaller batteries, down to sizes comparable to those of molecules and atoms. At these scales, quantum effects must be taken into account. It is therefore necessary to reconsider energy manipulation within the framework of quantum thermodynamics, a research field that aims to extend the laws of classical thermodynamics and non-equilibrium statistical physics to systems where quantum effects become significant. In this context, the possibility to properly characterize the energetics of miniaturized thermal machines represented a major boost for the development of quantum technologies devoted to energy storage and manipulation. This Thesis explores solid-state quantum batteries, bridging theoretical models with experimental simulations. Key contributions include the simulation of few-level QBs on IBM quantum hardware, demonstrating the viability of superconducting circuits for energy tasks. The work introduces a cyclic QB model where quantum correlations enable efficiencies exceeding 50%, and examines a harmonic oscillator battery where non-Markovian dynamics facilitate ultra-fast charging. Finally, a novel implementation based on Graphene Josephson Junctions is proposed to realize a Dicke quantum battery. These results highlight the potential of quantum technologies for the future of miniaturized energy storage.
Thermodynamics of quantum systems and quantum thermal machines are rapidly developing fields, which have already delivered several promising results, as well as raised many intriguing questions. Many-body quantum machines present new opportunities stemming from many-body effects. At the same time, they pose new challenges related to many-body physics. In this short review we discuss some of the recent developments on technologies based on many-body quantum systems. We mainly focus on many-body effects in quantum thermal machines. We also briefly address the role played by many-body systems in the development of quantum batteries and quantum probes.
Quantum batteries harness non-classical resources, such as quantum coherence and entanglement, to surpass the performance limits of classical energy-storage devices. Here we realize a room-temperature quantum battery based on a collective atomic spin ensemble in a thermal alkali-metal vapor, containing approximately 101287Rb atoms with coherence times exceeding 110 ms. We operationally determine the battery capacity by directly measuring the extremal internal energies accessible under unitary evolution. This tomography-free protocol agrees closely with the conventional state-based definition and verifies the decomposition of capacity into coherent and incoherent contributions. We further show that quantum coherence can substantially enhance the storage capability independently of level populations, and experimentally establish quantitative relations linking battery capacity to von Neumann, Tsallis and linear entropies. By introducing a controlled dephasing channel with a magnetic-field gradient, we observe a monotonic reduction of capacity with coherence loss and track the corresponding evolution of the entropy-capacity relations. Our results identify thermal atomic spin ensembles as a scalable platform for quantum batteries and connect macroscopic quantum energy storage with operational quantum thermodynamics.
Thermodynamics of quantum systems and associated quantum technologies are rapidly developing fields, which have already delivered several promising results, as well as raised many intriguing questions. Many-body quantum technologies present new opportunities stemming from many-body effects. At the same time, they pose new challenges related to many-body physics. In this short review we discuss some of the recent developments on technologies based on many-body quantum systems. We mainly focus on many-body effects in quantum thermal machines. We also briefly address the role played by many-body systems in the development of quantum batteries and quantum probes.
Quantum computing represents a transformative paradigm that exploits the principles of quantum mechanics—superposition, entanglement, and quantum interference—to perform computations beyond the capabilities of classical computers. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts underlying quantum computation, including qubits, quantum gates, quantum algorithms and measurement theory. It further examines major physical implementations of quantum computers, such as superconducting circuits, trapped ions, photonic systems, spin-based qubits, and topological approaches, highlighting their operational principles, advantages, and technological limitations. Key challenges hindering large-scale quantum computation—decoherence, error rates, qubit scalability, and fault tolerance—are critically discussed. Additionally, recent progress in quantum error correction, hybrid quantum–classical algorithms, and hardware optimization is summarized. The review concludes by outlining future research directions and potential applications of quantum computing in cryptography, materials science, optimization, and drug discovery. By integrating theoretical foundations with experimental advancements, this article aims to provide a clear and accessible reference for students, researchers, and scientists entering the rapidly evolving field of quantum computing.