[Ccarc] Nano transmitter

[Tom Murray]

  'World's smallest radio' unveiled





  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      The world's tiniest radio is a step closer to reality.
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
US scientists have unveiled a detector thousands of times smaller than
the diameter of a human hair that can translate radio waves into sound.
 According to a University of California team, the study
marks the first time that a nano-sized detector has been demonstrated
in a working radio system. 
    	  
  	
    
      
Made of carbon nanotubes a few atoms across, it is almost 1,000 times smaller than current radio technology.

    	  
  	
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    	
  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
Peter Burke and Chris Rutherglen incorporated the microscopic detector into a complete radio system.

    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
  
    	
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
    
    
    
  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      

    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
It is conceivable in the future that all components could be nanoscale,
thus allowing a truly nanoscale wireless communications system 
    	  
  	
    
      

    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      Prof Peter Burke
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
    	
  
  	
    
      
    



They used it to transmit classical music wirelessly from an iPod to a speaker several metres away from the music player.

    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
Full details of their findings will be published next month in the American Chemical Society's Nano Letters.

    	  
  	
    
      
"Though we have only demonstrated the critical component of the entire
radio system out of a nanotube (the demodulator), it is conceivable in
the future that all components could be nanoscale, thus allowing a
truly nanoscale wireless communications system," they write. 
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      Smart dust
    	  
  	
    
      
    	  
  	
    
      
Many companies are interested in the long-term potential of carbon
nanotubes - tiny cylinders of carbon that measure just a few billionths
of a metre across.  Kris Sangani, Consumer Electronics Editor at the
Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK, one of the world's
leading professional societies, said there were many possible real
world applications of "microscopic radio technology"- in medicine,
commerce and on the battlefield.  He said the real challenge for industry was to
miniaturise not just radio technology but other components such as
sensors, the power supply and processors.  "Scientists are looking at carbon nanotubes to
miniaturise all other technologies as well," he told BBC News. "If you
can combine miniaturisation with cost control; that type of technology
would be ubiquitous."  Such a development would bring the concept of smart
dust - a cluster of devices, smaller than a grain of sand, equipped
with wireless communications that can detect the likes of light,
temperature, or vibration - into the realms of reality rather than
science fiction.  Future uses might include meteorological, geophysical
and biological research sensors. They could also be used for discreet
military surveillance, or to create a distributed internet that would
be accessible anywhere. 	
  




Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7050477.stm



Published: 2007/10/18 12:54:15 GMT



© BBC MMVII



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