High efficiency carbon nanotube thread antennas

Although previous research has explored the underlying theory of high-frequency behavior of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and CNT bundles for antennas, there is a gap in the literature for direct experimental measurements of radiation efficiency. These measurements are crucial for any practical applicatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2017-10, Vol.111 (16)
Main Authors: Amram Bengio, E., Senic, Damir, Taylor, Lauren W., Tsentalovich, Dmitri E., Chen, Peiyu, Holloway, Christopher L., Babakhani, Aydin, Long, Christian J., Novotny, David R., Booth, James C., Orloff, Nathan D., Pasquali, Matteo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerospace industry
Antennas
Applied physics
Avionics
Carbon nanotubes
Copper wire
Efficiency
Measurement techniques
Monopole antennas
Nanotubes
Weight reduction
Wireless communications
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Summary:Although previous research has explored the underlying theory of high-frequency behavior of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and CNT bundles for antennas, there is a gap in the literature for direct experimental measurements of radiation efficiency. These measurements are crucial for any practical application of CNT materials in wireless communication. In this letter, we report a measurement technique to accurately characterize the radiation efficiency of λ/4 monopole antennas made from the CNT thread. We measure the highest absolute values of radiation efficiency for CNT antennas of any type, matching that of copper wire. To capture the weight savings, we propose a specific radiation efficiency metric and show that these CNT antennas exceed copper's performance by over an order of magnitude at 1 GHz and 2.4 GHz. We also report direct experimental observation that, contrary to metals, the radiation efficiency of the CNT thread improves significantly at higher frequencies. These results pave the way for practical applications of CNT thread antennas, particularly in the aerospace and wearable electronics industries where weight saving is a priority.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4991822