While it may seem like the 5G communications and data network has just been rolled out—and is, in fact, still in the process of being deployed—communications providers, governments, and researchers are already preparing for the sixth generation of wireless technology, or 6G.

Compared to 5G, which aimed to expand the bandwidth of wireless communications into the high-frequency millimeter wave range (> 24 gigahertz), 6G systems are expected to leverage an even wider range of frequencies that expand into the submillimeter band, i.e., more than 300 gigahertz (Figure 1).