Washington, Oct 18 : Researchers in California, US have reported the successful development of the world’s first ‘carbon nanotube radio’ device.

The system receives radio waves wirelessly and converts them to sound signals through a nano-sized detector made of carbon nanotubes.

It is thousands times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, and scientists say the development marks an important step in the evolution of nano-electronics that could one day lead to the production of the world’s smallest radio.

In a laboratory demonstration, Peter Burke and Chris Rutherglen incorporated the detector into a complete radio system and used it to successfully transmit classical music wirelessly from an iPod to a speaker several feet away from the music player.

According to the duo, the current study marks the first time that a nano-sized detector has been demonstrated in an actual working radio system.

They say their study demonstrates the feasibility of making other radio components at the nanoscale in the future, which might eventually lead to a “truly integrated nanoscale wireless communications system”.

Such a device could have numerous industrial, commercial, medical and other applications, they say.

The research appears online in the American Chemical Society’s Nano Letters and is scheduled to appear in print in the November 14 edition of the journal by the same name. (ANI)