Scientists have demonstrated an exciting new property of the futuristic material graphene.

Electrical signals transmitted at high frequencies lose none of their energy when passing through graphene, a new study has shown.

Since its discovery just over a decade ago, graphene – a material just an atom in thickness that is around 100 times stronger than steel - has revealed a range of potential uses across the engineering and health sectors.

The latest investigations have shown that graphene out-performs any other known material, including superconductors, when carrying high-frequency electrical signals compared to direct current.

In this form, graphene can transmit signals without any additional energy loss.

And since graphene lacks band-gap, which allows electrical signals to be switched on and off using silicon in digital electronics, academics say it seems most applicable for applications ranging from next generation high-speed transistors and amplifiers for mobile phones and satellite communications to ultra-sensitive biological sensors.

“Our results for the first time not only confirm the theoretical properties of graphene but also open up many new applications of the material in high-speed electronics and bio-sensing,” said the University of Plymouth’s Dr Shakil Awan, principal investigator in the study.

“An accurate understanding of the electromagnetic properties of graphene over a broad range of frequencies [from direct current to over 10 GHz] has been an important quest for several groups around the world.

“Initial measurements gave conflicting results with theory because graphene's intrinsic properties are often masked by much larger interfering signals from the supporting substrate, metallic contacts and measurement probes. “

The study was funded in part by Nokia Technologies, and its results are already being used to develop high-speed and efficient low noise amplifiers, mixers, radiation detectors and novel bio-sensors.

“Graphene devices for next generation wireless technologies (up to and beyond 10 GHz) are progressing fast. Our study has unlocked the fundamental behaviour of graphene at high frequencies, which will be essential in the design and evaluation of future graphene-based wireless devices,” said Dr Alan Colli, from Nokia Technologies.

The full study is available here.