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Sixth generation (6G) wireless networks operating in terahertz frequency region are significant solutions to the increasing number of telecommunication devices and the demand for faster data transmission. However, few dielectric materials exhibiting an ultralow relative dielectric constant (εr), loss tangent (tanδ), and high mechanical strength are found suited for 6G telecommunication. In this study, we developed lightweight ceramic foams by directly sintering glass hollow spheres. The effects of sintering temperatures on their mechanical performance, and terahertz optical and dielectric properties were systematically investigated. The final compositions of ceramic foams contain glass, cristobalite, quartz, and wollastonite. The crystalline content increases with increasing sintering temperature. The ceramic foams sintered at low temperatures of 700–850°C exhibit a high porosity ranging from 74.6% to 87.3%, ultralow εr ranging from 1.41 to 1.83, and tanδ of ∼0.011 at 0.5 THz, as well as high compressive strength ranging from 10.1 to 27.4 MPa, which could be promising materials for 6G telecommunication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave and terahertz communications are increasingly significant, however, the lack of material information in terahertz band limits their development. Moreover, few lightweight materials with a high relative dielectric constant (εr) are found suited for satellite communication and wearable devices. In this study, we developed lightweight porous Ba4[(Sm0.1Nd0.9)0.9Bi0.1]28/3Ti18O54 (BSNBT) ceramics exhibiting a total porosity ranging from 6.3% to 26.5% (bulk density ranging from 5.47 to 4.29 g/cm3) and relatively high εr ranging from 85.6 to 56.8, which were obtained by sacrificial template method using polymethyl methacrylate spheres (PMMAs) of varying average particle sizes, from 9 to 34 μm, as sacrificial materials. A high refractive index ranging between 7.5 and 8.9 and a low absorption coefficient of approximately 17 cm−1 at 0.3 THz were obtained for the porous ceramics with different total porosities derived from PMMAs with average particle sizes of 9 and 19 μm. Furthermore, effective medium and Mie scattering theories were applied to understand the effects of porous structure on the dielectric properties in microwave and terahertz frequency ranges, respectively, owing to the different wavelengths in the BSNBT matrix. The results of this study suggest that introducing a porous structure can effectively exploit lightweight microwave dielectric ceramic materials and provide valuable information on their terahertz response mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]