World's Smallest FM Radio Transmitter

A team of Columbia Engineering researchers, led by Mechanical Engineering Professor James Hone and Electrical Engineering Professor Kenneth Shepard, has taken advantage of graphene's special properties -- its mechanical strength and electrical conduction -- and created a nano-mechanical system that can create FM signals, in effect the world's smallest FM radio transmitter.

"This work is significant in that it demonstrates an application of graphene that cannot be achieved using conventional materials," Hone says. "And it's an important first step in advancing wireless signal processing and designing ultrathin, efficient cell phones. Our devices are much smaller than any other sources of radio signals, and can be put on the same chip that's used for data processing."