Using ideas borrowed from topological photonics, researchers in Singapore, France and the US have designed a compact antenna capable of handling information-rich terahertz (THz) signals. Reporting their results in Nature Photonics, the team, led by Ranjan Singh at the University of Notre Dame, say that with further refinements, the design could help underpin future sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks, allowing data to be shared at unprecedented speeds.

In the not-too-distant future, 6G networks are expected to enable data rates of around one terabit per second—the same as transferring roughly half the storage of a mid-range smartphone in a single second. Achieving such speeds will require wireless systems to operate at terahertz frequencies, far higher than those used by today’s 5G networks.

However, before THz frequencies can be used reliably, major improvements are needed in the antennas that transmit and receive these signals.