Experimental antennas using metamaterials that are highly efficient and yet a fraction of the size of standard antenna systems with comparable properties have been designed and tested by National Institute of Standards and Technology and partners from industry and academia.

The experimental antennas are as small as one-fiftieth of a wavelength (conventional antennas typically operate at one quarter or one half wavelength) and could shrink further.

The novel antennas may be useful in ever-shrinking and proliferating wireless systems such as emergency communications devices, micro-sensors and portable ground-penetrating radars to search for tunnels, caverns and other geophysical features.