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Integrated Circuit Amplifier Breaches Terahertz Barrier

Posted by Soulskill on from the terably-impressive dept.

jenningsthecat writes: DARPA's Terahertz Electronics program has created "the fastest solid-state amplifier integrated circuit ever measured." The Terahertz Monolithic Integrated Circuit (TMIC), boasts a gain of 9dB — previously unheard of for a monolithic device in this frequency range. Plus, the status of "fastest" has been certified by Guinness — seriously! ('Cause you might not trust DARPA, but you gotta trust Guinness — right?).

In related news, DARPA has also created a micro-machined vacuum power amplifier operating at 850 GHz, or 0.85 THz.

2 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Tetrahertz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    From TFA:

    The ten-stage common-source amplifier operates at a speed of one terahertz (10^12 GHz)

    one tretrahertz is not 10^12 Ghz, it is 10^3 Ghz.

  2. Re:Not solid state... by xfade551 · · Score: 3, Informative

    There are two articles linked. The first article is about a new integrated circuit amp. The second is about a year old and is about a separate vacuum tube amp. The first article mentions that the new IC amp broke the record of the earlier vacuum tube amp. So, for once, the summary is correct.