A thousand times faster wifi? A little more patience – De Morgen

Terahertz lies between radio waves used by mobile phones and WiFi and the spectrum of visible light. By the radio frequency to considerably boost, data could be much faster. “You phone operates at 2.4 gigahertz,” said Andrew Paulsen of the University of Utah. “A terahertz is a thousand gigahertz.” Thousand times faster so. Problem: terahertz waves are difficult to make and filter. Therefore refers to the terahertzgat.

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The research is fairly trivial, but the PR department has a lot of ketchup and mayonnaise tossed

Professor Bram Nauta Twente University

The Utah researchers say they have a part of the puzzle solved. They have developed a simple method to filter terahertz waves. By using an inkjet printer on a transparent film to print patterns of silver-containing ink, certain frequencies may be throttled, while others are allowed to pass. This creates separate channels in the spectrum, allowing devices to communicate smoothly, said their study published in Optics. The technique can lay the foundation for a 5G network, they say.

Disadvantages persist

Professor Bram Nauta Twente University calls the investigation nice, ‘though it is physically quite trivial. The researchers have printed an antenna, said Nauta. “It’s essentially not much different than you take a flashlight where you hold a red piece of paper for. Then you can say that you filter light, but from a practical application is still no.” According to Nauta is the suggestion that high-speed data communication is in sight, rather exaggerated.

Some of the disadvantages terahertfrequentie remains, according to the professor who is gespecialseerd include signal filters. “So transmitter and receiver must be able to see each other. The signals can not turn the corner. So you need very precise aim, as with an infrared remote control for the TV.” This limitation makes application in a mobile phone considerably more difficult. According to Nauta can be used as good infrared. “” Or you put a thread. “

Creating a filter is not even the trickiest part, the production of terahertz waves is more complicated. “There are still very large equipment is needed, which are not yet in your pocket.” The study is interesting, says Nauta. “But they’ve got a very good PR department that there a lot of ketchup and mayonnaise has thrown about.”