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University of Florida and Texas Instruments engineers announce record-setting high-frequency circuit
GAINESVILLE, Fla. and
The breakthrough was presented by University of Florida and TI engineers Wednesday at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in
Ken O, a UF professor of electrical and computer engineering and the lead researcher on the project, said his team had demonstrated a 410 gigahertz (GHz) circuit using complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) technology — the technology used to make many of the components in personal computers, cell phones and handheld electronic devices.
Measured in a UF laboratory using a circuit equipped with a tiny on-chip antenna the size of a pen tip, 410 GHz eclipses the previous record for CMOS circuits set in
"This is probably the first time in 30 years that a silicon based circuit has been shown to have a higher operating frequency than one based on indium phosphide and similar compounds," O said. "This is exciting because if you can build chips based on these circuits, then you can build inexpensive detection and imaging systems for a range of applications. The result could reduce the cost for these systems by a factor of 100 or more."
Ultra-high frequency circuits have been created in the past, but only with exotic materials that are costly to manufacture. CMOS, by contrast, is the standard process used to make the majority of the chips in the integrated circuit industry, therefore opening the door for widespread manufacture and distribution of the high-frequency chips.
"There is a very rich applications space that is available, but nobody has been able to get there in the high volume sense," O says. "By leveraging Texas Instruments' advanced process technology for manufacturing this circuit, the University of Florida and TI demonstrate that through CMOS there is real possibility we will be able to do it in the next five years."
These applications include, for example, always-on environmental monitoring equipment acutely sensitive to pollution, noxious gases or bioterrorism agents. In imaging, high-frequency chips make possible techniques that can penetrate clothing to 'see' hidden weapons or plastic explosives. The circuit could also be used in chips for medical equipment that could facilitate early detection of skin and other cancers, and in industrial systems that monitor the coatings on pills to ensure they have the proper thickness and uniformity.
The other authors of the paper that is the source of Wednesday's announcement are Eun-Young Seok, Changhua Cao, Dongha Shim,
"University research is critical for moving the technology industry forward, and Texas Instruments is proud to be part of University of Florida's ground-breaking work," said
The circuit was demonstrated on TI's low power 45-nm process technology. The process includes a number of techniques to deliver cost-effective multi-million transistor, system-on-chip processors with the performance and lower power consumption required for processing advanced applications. While designed to extend battery life and energy efficiency in portable products, the technology also offers the performance to handle advanced multimedia functionality in a tightly integrated design.
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SOURCE Texas Instruments; University of Florida
