Highlights
- Researchers developed an on-chip photonic system covering frequencies from 0.5 GHz to 115 GHz, far beyond today’s wireless technologies.
- The chip uses thin-film lithium niobate to integrate multiple functions: signal generation, modulation, and wireless–photonic conversion.
- Achieved record wireless speeds of 100 Gbps across nine frequency bands.
- System supports dynamic spectrum management, automatically avoiding interference and adapting to complex environments.
- Findings bring us closer to full-spectrum 6G networks with global coverage, low latency, and resilience.
TLDR
A team led by Zihan Tao, Haoyu Wang, Hanke Feng, and colleagues created a chip-based photonic system that enables wireless communication across an unprecedented frequency range. With stable, tunable signals and real-time adaptability, this breakthrough lays the foundation for future 6G and beyond full-spectrum wireless networks.
A New Frontier in Wireless Connectivity
The future of wireless communication depends on one thing: bandwidth. As the world prepares for sixth-generation (6G) and even more advanced networks, engineers face a challenge. They must design systems that work across a massive frequency spectrum—from traditional microwave bands to the ultra-fast terahertz range.
Until now, electronic solutions have struggled to keep up. Conventional systems require separate hardware for different frequency bands, adding cost, complexity, and inefficiency. Worse, they often produce noisy, unstable signals at higher frequencies, making ultra-fast wireless less reliable.
A new study published in Nature by Zihan Tao, Haoyu Wang, Hanke Feng, Yijun Guo, Bitao Shen, Dan Sun, Yuansheng Tao, Changhao Han, Yandong He, John E. Bowers, Haowen Shu, Cheng Wang, and Xingjun Wang may have changed the game. Their team has demonstrated an ultrabroadband on-chip photonic system that works seamlessly across frequencies from 0.5 GHz to 115 GHz.
How It Works: Harnessing Light for Wireless
At the heart of this breakthrough is thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), a material prized for its exceptional optical properties. By exploiting the Pockels effect—a phenomenon where light changes speed when exposed to an electric field—the researchers built tiny modulators capable of handling extremely wide frequency ranges.
This chip integrates everything needed for wireless communication:
- Signal generation using optoelectronic oscillators.
- Baseband modulation for encoding data.
- Wireless–photonic conversion to switch between light and radio signals.
Unlike older designs, the new system is reconfigurable in real time. That means it can switch frequencies on demand, manage interference, and align signals without relying on bulky or noisy electronic components.
Record-Breaking Speeds Across Nine Bands
The team tested the chip across nine different frequency bands, spanning the spectrum used for mobile networks, satellite links, and future sub-terahertz applications.
Results were stunning:
- Wireless speeds reached 100 gigabits per second—fast enough to download a 4K movie in seconds.
- Signals remained stable and consistent across the full range.
- Adaptive tuning allowed the system to dodge interference, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity.
For comparison, today’s 5G networks often peak at a few gigabits per second. This photonic approach could multiply that performance many times over.
Why This Matters for 6G and Beyond
As data demands skyrocket—with extended reality (XR), autonomous vehicles, and even remote surgery relying on ultra-reliable links—future networks need more than speed. They need adaptability and resilience.
The team’s photonic chip delivers both. Its ability to cover the full wireless spectrum means it could unify rural, urban, and satellite communications under one system. Its real-time spectrum management ensures reliable service even in crowded or noisy environments.
This could be the foundation of a true full-spectrum, omni-scenario wireless network—the vision of 6G.
What Comes Next
While this work is a leap forward, challenges remain. Antennas and amplifiers still need upgrades to fully match the chip’s capabilities. The researchers suggest integrating lasers and detectors directly onto the same platform, which could shrink the entire system into a fully on-chip solution with even lower power use.
Looking ahead, the authors envision merging this technology with artificial intelligence, creating networks that automatically adapt to users’ needs and environmental conditions. They also see potential for combining wireless communication with sensing technologies, opening the door to networks that can both transmit data and map environments in real time.
Source: Tao, Z., Wang, H., Feng, H., Guo, Y., Shen, B., Sun, D., Tao, Y., Han, C., He, Y., Bowers, J.E., Shu, H., Wang, C. & Wang, X. (2025). Ultrabroadband on-chip photonics for full-spectrum wireless communications. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09451-8