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 λ
₀
. In 2017, we demonstrated a new antenna miniaturization mechanism [2] that acoustically actuated nanome-chanical 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 nano-antennas 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.