TRW Demonstrates World's Fastest Digital Chip
Indium Phosphide Technology Points to Higher Internet Speeds
Redondo Beach, CA. TRW Space & Electronics Group (NYSE:TRW), a world leader in high-speed integrated circuits, has demonstrated the world s fastest digital integrated circuit: a frequency divider operating at a clock frequency of 69 gigahertz (GHz), or 69 billion cycles per second.
The chip was fabricated using indium phosphide, an advanced semiconductor material with high-speed performance superior to that of silicon or gallium arsenide.
"Superfast chips with digital processing speeds above 60 GHz are necessary for the next generation of fiber-optic and wireless broadband telecommunication systems. These new systems will carry far greater volumes of Internet traffic than today s systems," said Dwight Streit, director of TRW Telecom Products.
"Our 69 gigahertz frequency divider proves that such speeds are possible today," he added. "We ve worked hard to develop indium phosphide into a high-yield manufacturable process. With performance capability exceeding anything else available today, indium phosphide will be used to enable a new generation of high-performance systems for the telecommunications industry."
Streit said that digital logic operating at speeds greater than 60 GHz is essential for telecommunications applications such as 40 gigabit-per-second fiber optic chip sets and advanced frequency synthesizers.
The 69 GHz frequency divider is described in a paper to be presented by TRW Dec. 8 at the annual IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The digital circuit was made using indium phosphide heterojunction bipolar transistors. A unique feature of these transistors is the removal of collector material beneath the base layer, resulting in a cantilevered base layer resting upon a pedestal-like collector layer (see photo). The greater the amount of cantilevering, the higher the speed of the frequency divider.
TRW Telecom Products, a part of TRW Space & Electronics Group (S&EG), is a supplier of high-performance integrated circuits, integrated multichip modules, and foundry services for commercial markets. A leader in microelectronics, S&EG also builds communications, scientific and defense spacecraft for military, civil and commercial customers; produces, integrates and tests payloads; and develops advanced space instruments.
Based in Cleveland, TRW provides advanced technology products and services for the global automotive, aerospace and information systems markets. TRW news releases are available on the corporate Web site: www.trw.com.
Contact: TRW Inc., Redondo Beach Jack Prichett, Tel: 310/812-5227 jack.prichett@trw.com
TRW Inc., RedondoBeach Jack Prichett, Tel: 310/812-5227 jack.prichett@trw.com
E-mail: jack.prichett@trw.com
Web site: http://www.trw.com
