Experimental Transistor Breaks 600 Gigahertz

neutron_p writes "The goal of a terahertz transistor for high-speed computing and communications applications could now be within reach. A new type of transistor structure, invented by scientists at the University of Illinois, has broken the 600 gigahertz speed barrier. A new type of transistor - built from indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide - is designed with a compositionally graded collector, base and emitter to reduce transit time and improve current density. With their pseudomorphic heterojunction bipolar transistor, the researchers have demonstrated a speed of 604 gigahertz - the fastest transistor operation to date."

Comments

Not being an EE geek...let me ask a question

[nebaz]

If we assumed that all transistors on a chip (say a P4) were this type of transistor, and could run at 600 GHz, I know there is time required for a signal to cross all of these transistors, etc., and that some chips have a billion transistors on them, how fast could the current chips run with these transistors?

Zero gain bandwidth

[wowbagger]

OK, I cannot RTFM right now as it is /.ed, but:

This sounds an awful lot like they are giving the zero-gain bandwidth of the transistor - the frequency at which the transistor does NOT amplfy a signal anymore.

So, at 599GHz the transistor will amplify a little. At 600 GHz the transistor takes as much power to drive the input as it is able to switch at the output. At 601 GHz the transistor takes more power to control than it can switch.

Given a 600 GHz zero-gain bandwidth transistor you ARE NOT going to make a 600 GHz clockspeed processor.

How do you measure 604 gigahertz?

[MOBE2001]

the researchers have demonstrated a speed of 604 gigahertz - the fastest transistor operation to date.

How does one measure 604 gigahertz? Just asking.