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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.

8 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. And there was a great disturbance in the force by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Funny

    As if millions of audiophiles cried out in terror and were not heard because their amplifiers didn't have 10db of gain at 1.03 terahertz.

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    1. Re:And there was a great disturbance in the force by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's only because they didn't get the Monster gold plated amplifiers. They make the screams sound more warm and natural.

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  2. 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.

    1. Re:Tetrahertz by dumfrac · · Score: 3, Funny

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

      Tretrahertz - the frequency at which trick or treaters visit your house.

  3. 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.

  4. Re:'Cause you might not trust DARPA... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

    You make a good point, but it would be an error to accept your general argument in all cases. There are situations where government intervention is the best tool to solve a problem, but many people are so strong in defaulting to the 'more government is bad' position that they are unable to admit when these situations arise.

  5. Cable TV applications by Eravnrekaree · · Score: 2

    Does this mean that RF cable television systems will be able to expand their bandwidth?

  6. We use stuff like this by NixieBunny · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I work in submillimeter wave astronomy, where we would be happy to have a terahertz preamplifier for our receivers. We currently use miers mixer that work at that frequency, but the mixer has to be made with superconducting waveguide to have good performance. There are about five places in the world that know how to make that sort of chip.

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