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IBM and Georgia Tech Break Silicon Speed
Record
Somers, NY, June 20: IBM
and the Georgia Institute of
Technology announced today that their researchers have demonstrated the
first silicon-based chip capable of operating at frequencies above 500 GHz --
500 billion cycles per second -- by cryogenically “freezing” the chip to 451
degrees below zero Fahrenheit (4.5 Kelvins). Such extremely cold temperatures
are found naturally only in outer space, but can be artificially achieved on
Earth using ultra-cold materials such as liquid helium. (Absolute Zero, the
coldest possible temperature in nature, occurs at minus 459.67 degrees
Fahrenheit).
By comparison, 500 GHz is more than 250 times faster than today's cell phones,
which typically operate at approximately 2 GHz. Computer simulations suggest
that the silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology used in the chip could ultimately
support even higher (near-TeraHertz – 1,000 GHz) operational frequencies even at
room temperature.
The experiments, conducted jointly by IBM and Georgia Tech researchers, are part
of a project to explore the ultimate speed limits of silicon-germanium (SiGe)
devices, which operate faster at very cold temperatures. The chips used in the
research are from a prototype fourth-generation SiGe technology fabricated by
IBM on a 200-millimeter wafer. At room temperature, they operated at
approximately 350 GHz.
“For the first time, Georgia Tech and IBM have demonstrated that speeds of half
a trillion cycles per second can be achieved in a commercial silicon-based
technology, using large wafers and silicon-compatible low-cost manufacturing
techniques,” said John D. Cressler, Byers Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, and a researcher in the Georgia Electronic
Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech. “This work redefines the upper bounds of
what is possible using silicon-germanium nanotechnology techniques.”
"This groundbreaking collaborative research by Georgia Tech and IBM redefines
the performance limits of silicon-based semiconductors," said Bernie Meyerson,
vice president and chief technologist, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "IBM is
committed to working closely with our academic and industry partners to deliver
the insight and innovation that will enable a new generation of
high-performance, energy efficient microprocessors."
SiGe is a process technology in which the electrical properties of silicon, the
material underlying virtually all modern microchips, is augmented with germanium
to make chips operate more efficiently. SiGe boosts performance and reduces
power consumption in chips that go into cellular phones and other advanced
communication devices. IBM first announced its SiGe technology in 1989, and
later introduced SiGe into the industry's first standard, high-volume SiGe chips
in October 1998. Since that time, it has shipped hundreds of millions of SiGe
chips.
Ultra-high-frequency silicon-germanium circuits have potential applications in
commercial communications systems, defense electronics, space exploration, and
remote sensing. Achieving such extreme speeds in silicon-based technology –
which can be manufactured using conventional low-cost techniques – could provide
a pathway to high-volume applications. Until now, only integrated circuits
fabricated from more costly “III-V” compound semiconductor materials have
achieved such extreme levels of transistor performance.
Better understanding the physics of silicon-germanium devices – and ultimately
the circuits that can be built from them – will provide important clues to
improvements needed in the future.
“We observe effects in these devices at cryogenic temperatures which potentially
make them faster than simple theory would suggest, and may allow us to
ultimately make the devices even faster,” Cressler explained. “Understanding the
basic physics of these advanced transistors arms us with knowledge that could
make the next generation of silicon-based integrated circuits even better.”
Silicon-germanium technology has been of great interest to the electronics
industry because it allows substantial transistor performance improvements to be
achieved while using fabrication techniques compatible with standard high-volume
silicon-based manufacturing processes. By introducing germanium into silicon
wafers at the atomic scale, engineers can boost dramatically performance while
retaining the many advantages of silicon.
In addition to Cressler, the research team included Georgia Tech Ph.D. students
Ramkumar Krithivasan and Yuan Lu; Jae-Sun Rieh of Korea University in Seoul,
South Korea (formerly with IBM); and Marwan Khater, David Ahlgren and Greg
Freeman of IBM Microelectronics in East Fishkill, N.Y. The accomplishment will
be reported in the July issue of the journal IEEE Electron Device Letters. The
research has been supported by IBM, NASA, and the GEDC at Georgia Tech.
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