Abstract
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.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 434-441 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Nature Food |
Volume | 2 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2021 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Food Science
- Animal Science and Zoology
- Agronomy and Crop Science