Future Antenna Miniaturization Mechanism: Magnetoelectric Antennas

Antenna miniaturization is one of the fundamental challenges for decades [1]. Conventional small antennas use electric current for radiation which relies on electromagnetic wave resonance that leads to antenna sizes comparable to the electromagnetic wavelength λ0. In 2017, we demonstrated a new antenna miniaturization mechanism [2] that acoustically actuated nanomechanical magnetoelectric (ME) antennas with a released ferromagnetic / piezoelectric thin film resonator could successfully miniaturize the magnitude of 1–2 orders. Here we discuss the ME antenna theory and further design to enhance the antenna gain and bandwidth with series and parallel antenna arrays. These nanoantennas with ultra-high sensitivity, selectivity of the magnetic field and ground plane immunity have great potential applications for bio-implantable, wearable antennas, internet of things, etc.