Georgia Tech/IBM Demonstrate 500 GHz Silicon-Germanium Transistor
A research team from IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology has demonstrated the first silicon-germanium transistor able to operate at frequencies above 500 GHz. Though the record performance was attained at extremely cold temperatures, the results suggest that the upper bound for performance in silicon-germanium devices may be higher than originally expected.
The silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors built by the IBM-Georgia Tech team operated at frequencies above 500 GHz at 4.5 Kelvins (451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit) – a temperature attained using liquid helium cooling. At room temperature, these devices operated at approximately 350 GHz. Performance measurements were made using a specialized high-frequency test system in the Georgia Electronic Design Center.
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