Nathan D. Orloff1, Rick Ubic2, and Michael Lanagan3
Special topic on materials and devices for 5G electronics
Appl. Phys. Lett. 120, 060402 (2022);
DOI: 10.1063/5.0079175
1 NIST, Colorado, USA
2 Boise State University, Idaho, USA
3 Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract: Next generation communications are inspiring entirely new applications in education, healthcare, and transportation. These applications are only possible because of improvements in latency, data rates, and connectivity in the latest generation. Behind these improvements are new materials and devices that operate at much higher frequencies than ever before, a trend that is likely to continue. Beyond these exciting applications, higher frequency millimeter waves (mmWaves) may also address a growing problem with capacity. Today, most capacity problems occur when large numbers of wireless connections or applications access the network at the same time at any single location. As wireless internet connections far surpass wired connections and wireless data usage has grown exponentially for more than 10 years,3 many believe that capacity problems will spread without access to new bandwidth.
FIG: A plot of the peak data rates vs the operating frequency
where the diameter of the circle is the bandwidth.
Acknowledgement: Our [the editors] special thanks to Lesley Cohen, Editor-in-Chief, Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Associate Editor, and Jessica Trudeau and Emma Nicholson Van Burns for their technical assistance with publishing.