Imagine making the 'eyes' and 'ears' of smart devices thousands of times smaller and more energy-efficient. Instead of bulky parts, this uses carbon nanotubes and graphene—materials so thin they are almost two-dimensional—to handle wireless signals. It's like replacing old, heavy plumbing with microscopic, high-speed fiber optics for radar and 6G internet.
Current radar sensors for IoT and 6G suffer from limited antenna performance at 300GHz and poor frequency tunability at 60GHz, which hinders their use in smart homes and high-speed communications.
Two industry-ready demonstrators featuring nano-antennas, filters, and switches integrated on silicon wafers using carbon nanotubes and graphene.
If you are a smart home device manufacturer dealing with bulky sensors and high battery drain—this project developed 60GHz radar sensing components that enable micro-motion detection with significantly lower energy consumption.
If you are a 6G infrastructure provider dealing with the need for data rates up to 1 terabit per second—this project developed nano-antennas and switches that allow for ultra-fast, low-power processing of massive data volumes.
If you are a testing equipment maker dealing with limited antenna performance at high frequencies—this project developed radar sensors reaching up to 300GHz for higher sensitivity and non-destructive material classification.
Based on available project data, specific unit costs or pricing models are not provided; the focus is on reducing energy consumption and improving miniaturization.
The project specifically targets wafer-scale integration of 2D materials and carbon nanotubes to ensure the solutions are industry-compatible.
Based on available project data, the specific licensing terms are not listed, but the project is coordinated by Thales with a consortium of industry and research partners.
The project is testing integration on 200 µm silicon wafers using solder flip chip and thermocompression processes for SiGe BiCMOS Radar chipsets.
The project runs from 2023-05-01 to 2026-08-31, aiming to deliver two industry-ready demonstrators by the end of the period.
The consortium is heavily industry-weighted at 60%, featuring 3 industrial partners and 2 research entities across 4 countries. Led by Thales, a major defense and aerospace enterprise, the group includes an SME and specialized technical partners like IMT and IHP, suggesting a strong pipeline from lab research to industrial application.
Contact Thales (France) regarding the SMARTWAY project deliverables
Contact us to connect with the SMARTWAY consortium for licensing nano-antenna technology.
