A new transistor, made out of the amazing new nanomaterial graphene (a sheet of carbon atoms just one atom thick)has beaten the record for the fastest transistor at 100 GHz. There have been a number of transistor innovations in the last couple of years, including the recent creation of transistors mimicking brain behavior.
Most of the other graphene-based transistors have been created from flakes of graphene, but this device is more in line with the techniques used by the semiconductor industry. According to Phaedon Avouris, one of the IBM researchers who performed this research, "Our work is the first demonstration that high-performance graphene-based devices can be fabricated on a technologically relevant wafer scale."
Graphene transistors cannot be used in digital circuits, though they can boost an analog signal, such as those used in some forms of imaging technology, like radar and medical scanning. Such technology, once perfected, could allow for major miniaturization and enhancement of such technologies.
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COOOL BEANS! SO ANALOG HAS NOT WENT COMPLETELY AWAY…THAT IS VERY NICE TO KNOW CONSIDERING THAT MOST OF THE “NEW” TECHNOLOGY HAS TO MANY GLITCHES. FOR EXAMPLE THE NEW HD TV’S: WHEN THEY BREAK DOWN THEY NEED “PICTURE TUBES” THAT NOW COST OVER $150.00. I CAN REMEMBER THE SMALLER TUBES COSTING BTWN .50 AND $2.00 AND YOU COULD GET THEM AT RITE AID. ALL THAT JUS TO SAY THAT THE MRE THINGS CHANG THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME. SO NOW ITS A NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR AN OLD MODE/APPLICATION. WHICH WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO COME BACK AT LEAST AS A BACK UP.
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Even though, IBM group has shown a great scientific achievement, there are a few things that should be clearly pointed out. First, Si based transistor can already run at about 200 GHz. Second, they measured only up to 30 GHz. They extrapolated the gain spectrum curve to find maximum curoff frequency when gain becomes to unity. This cutoff frequency was 100 GHz.