This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have shown that making extremely small changes to the structure of a material can dramatically improve its ability to respond to electrical signals. Published recently in Science Advances, the breakthrough could help create a new generation of wireless devices that can change frequency on demand, making communication systems more flexible and energy efficient.
The team focused on a ceramic material called strontium tantalate. By replacing a small number of atoms with slightly smaller calcium atoms, they created tiny distortions in the material's structure. Although these changes occur at the atomic scale, they have a major effect on how the material behaves.
The researchers found that these atomic-scale distortions create small regions of electrical activity, known as polar nanoclusters, inside a material that would normally be electrically inactive. These nanoclusters can quickly respond to electric fields, allowing the material's properties to be tuned when needed. "This is a bit like finding a way to add dimmer switches to a system that previously only had an on-and-off setting," said Professor Yang Hao, lead author of the study.
"Small structural changes give us a much greater level of control." One of the most striking findings was how little calcium was needed to achieve the effect. The best-performing material contained just 8% calcium, yet it showed a rare combination of strong tunability, low energy loss and stable performance across a wide range of frequencies. This is significant because engineers have long faced a trade-off: Materials that are easy to tune often waste energy or perform poorly at high frequencies.
The Queen Mary team found a way to overcome this challenge, potentially solving a problem that has limited the development of tunable electronic devices for decades. Modern communication systems are expected to do more than ever before. Mobile networks, satellites, radar systems and connected devices all need to cope with increasing amounts of data and changing operating conditions.
Materials that can adjust their properties in real time could help these systems become more efficient and adaptable. Importantly, the researchers did not stop at the laboratory stage. They incorporated the material into prototype antennas and microwave devices and demonstrated that the operating frequency could be changed using voltage or temperature.
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