Researchers from the Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology (SAIHST) and Hallym University in Korea, have created what they are calling some of the thinnest radio frequency (RF) antennas in the world.

With thicknesses reportedly equal to 1/100 of a strand of human hair, the antennas are designed to work within increasingly smaller electronic devices and wearables.

The research appears in the journal ACS Nano.

The researchers used thin sheets of 2D material composed of one layer of metallic niobium atoms inserted between two layers of selenium atoms (NbSe₂).

To create the antenna, the team spray coated layers and layers of NbSe₂ nanosheets onto a plastic substrate. An 885 nm thick antenna was then tested, demonstrating that a 10 x 10 mm² patch of the material had a radiation efficiency of more than 70% and propagated RF waves in every direction.

When researchers altered the antenna’s length, its frequency was tunable from 2.01 GHz to 2.80 GHz — well within Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-required frequency ranges, according to its developers. Additionally, the new antenna could be physically manipulated without significant performance changes.

Typically, antennas receiving and transmitting radio waves are made of metal conductors, often copper, silver and aluminum. Although they demonstrate high electrical conductivity, making the antennas ultrathin and lighter weight results in a decrease in performance. Consequently, metal-based antennas generally need to be more than 30 mm thick in diameter, thereby limiting their use in smaller electronic devices and wearables.

Besides helping to pave the way for smaller electronics, the team envisions that the new antennas will also enhance deep-space communication systems in which the material would act as superconductors in the cold temperatures of space.