Increasing greenhouse production by spectral-shifting and unidirectional light-extracting photonics

• Published in: Nature food Vol. 2; no. 6; p. 434
• Main Authors: Shen, Lihua, Lou, Runnan, Park, Yujin, Guo, Yuning, Stallknecht, Eric J, Xiao, Yinzi, Rieder, David, Yang, Ronggui, Runkle, Erik S, Yin, Xiaobo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.06.2021
• ISSN: 2662-1355
• DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00307-8

Improving photosynthesis and light capture increases crop yield and paves a sustainable way to meet the growing global food demand. Here we introduce a spectral-shifting microphotonic thin film as a greenhouse envelope that can be scalably manufactured for augmented photosynthesis. By breaking the intrinsic propagation symmetry of light, the photonic microstructures can extract 89% of the internally generated light and deliver most of that in one direction towards photosynthetic organisms. The microphotonic film augments lettuce production by more than 20% in both indoor facilities with electric lighting and in a greenhouse with natural sunlight, offering the possibility of increasing crop production efficiency in controlled environments.