ARLINGTON, Va. -- As part of his project called "GameChanger," Dr. Richard James (an AFRL-funded professor from the University of Minnesota) is using the concept of objective structures to create new antennas for micro air vehicles (MAV) used for military purposes. MAVs are a type of remotely controlled unmanned air vehicle. The challenge of designing a suitable antenna for these vehicles is related to their small size, which prohibits standard solutions.

Dr. James and his students regularly develop theories regarding the behavior of materials; they then take these theoretical predictions into the lab to aid the creation of useful new materials. In exploring revolutionary new materials--for efficient MAV antennas, in this case--the GameChanger effort centers on Dr. James' discovery of a systematic approach to nanotechnology. The approach hinges on the use of objective structures, which are structures composed of atoms with identical molecules existing in the same atomic environment.

The methodology, which leverages a number of innovative and powerful mathematical tools, produces materials resembling carbon nanotubes. These novel materials consist of the natural structures--and thereby exhibit the associated natural behaviors--needed for seeking special physical properties, such as ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity. Ideal for antenna applications, this inherent "seeking" characteristic is a consequence of the material's objective-structures-based composition. That is, the material makeup is such that if one atom exhibits unpaired spins (i.e., is magnetic), all of the atoms will display this same behavior (i.e., magnetism).