Researchers at the University of California Irvine claim to have developed a biased carbon nanotube receiver, with palladium electrodes, which is capable of converting AM radio waves into sound.

Professor Peter J Burke and Chris Rutherglen claim that their method enabled a signal to travel a few feet between an iPod, which they ran through a device capable of converting AM radio waves at 1GHZ, to a receiving device, which contained a carbon nanotube detector, as well as a 1.5 volt battery, a speaker and an amplifier.

The pair manufactured the carbon nanotubes in a lab, and then applied palladium electrodes to them through lithography, TG Daily reports.

The technology could be used in complex systems such as tunable frequency applications, the researchers claim, and could prove a step on the way to increasing the frequency and moving from AM signals to FM and PCM (Pulse Code Modulation), which are used in wireless broadband-enabled devices.

Source:

Carbon Nanotube Radio, 17/10/07
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/nalefd/asap/html/nl0714839.html

Carbon nanotubes used to demodulate AM radio signals, 25/10/07
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/34544/118/

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