A high Q piezoelectric resonator as a portable VLF transmitter

Very low frequency communication systems (3 kHz-30 kHz) enable applications not feasible at higher frequencies. However, the highest radiation efficiency antennas require size at the scale of the wavelength (here, >1 km), making portable transmitters extremely challenging. Facilitating transmitters at the 10 cm scale, we demonstrate an ultra-low loss lithium niobate piezoelectric electric dipole driven at acoustic resonance that radiates with greater than 300x higher efficiency compared to the previous state of the art at a comparable electrical size. A piezoelectric radiating element eliminates the need for large impedance matching networks as it self-resonates at the acoustic wavelength. Temporal modulation of this resonance demonstrates a device bandwidth greater than 83x beyond the conventional Bode-Fano limit, thus increasing the transmitter bitrate while still minimizing losses. These results will open new applications for portable, electrically small antennas.