Tag Archives: speed

Low-Power, High-Performance Tunneling Field Effect Transistors for Advanced Computing

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Summary:

Silicon-based field effect transistor (FET) devices are building blocks of silicon-based digital, analog, and hybrid electronics. Often made of a metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) type structure, these devices are interconnected to generate so-called "complementary" MOSFET circuits, known as CMOS transistor circuitry. CMOS enjoys the benefits of low power and high speed operation, and advancements in these two properties have primarily been achieved through reduction of the channel length, which is now well into the submicron range for commercial devices. However, CMOS technology is approaching certain fundamental limits that will prohibit further miniaturization, likely due to the complex material formulations used. To overcome these limits, researchers at The Ohio State University have developed a novel Tunneling Field Effect Transistor (TFET) that will allow for further device miniaturization, reduced power, and increased speed beyond what is possible with current CMOS technology, while still enabling the use of well-established CMOS manufacturing processes.

Potential Applications:

  • High-performance computing
  • Power-constrained military systems
  • Handheld/miniature electronics
  • Practically anywhere silicon-based electronics are used

Advantages:

  • Extends CMOS, enabling a new generation of device topologies while allowing the use of current manufacturing processes
  • Faster turn-on at lower voltages than competing TFET designs
  • Steep sub-threshold slopes (below 60mV/decade)
  • Less current leakage in the "off" state compared to competing TFET designs
  • Higher current densities in the "on" state compared to competing TFET designs

Resonant Interband Tunneling Diodes–Extending Moore’s Law and Enabling New Circuitry

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Summary:

Since the early 1960’s, the utility of the tunnel diode (or Esaki diode) has been evident, but several practical hurdles have kept it from reaching mainstream status. Historically, it has been difficult to control peak current and, more importantly, tunnel diode fabrication has lacked a Si-based process that can easily be mass produced and integrated into existing Si-based integrated circuits. As a result, today’s tunnel diodes are primarily used in discrete form and for niche applications. Regardless, tunnel diodes have many current and future applications, and the challenges of aggressively scaled CMOS is forcing this subject to be seriously revisited, since quantum tunneling will dominate in any ultra-low dimensional material. The structure of the Resonant Interband Tunneling Diode (RITD) differs from that of the Esaki diode (traditional tunnel diode) which results in additional useful properties. In RITDs, electrons quantum mechanically tunnel across an energy well formed between two barriers, where Esaki diodes have no energy well. This quantum mechanical tunneling effect happens extremely quickly and thus very high speed electronics can be realized with the use of RITDs. Terahertz operation has been demonstrated. Furthermore, a useful effect called Negative Differential Resistance (NDR) can be exploited using these devices.

Potential Applications:

  • Can augment CMOS technology resulting in novel logic and embedded circuit topologies with reduced device count, low power, and faster speed.
  • Can be implemented in ICs, memory devices, and small, lightweight portable electronics for greater performance at lower power consumption
  • Applications found in oscillators, frequency locking circuits, advanced SRAM circuits, highly integrated A/D converters, high speed digital latches, and many others

Advantages:

  • Uses quantum tunneling, a very high-speed process. Terahertz operation has been demonstrated
  • Shown to exhibit Negative Differential Resistance (NDR)
  • Low cost, compatible with current CMOS technology, and easy to integrate into existing manufacturing processes
  • Runs at room temperature and at very low voltage
  • Can be combined with existing technologies to offer flexibility

IP Status:

Tunneling Diode: Use and Manufacturing – US Pending
Using Backward Tunneling Diode as a Sensor – US Pending

Free-Space Optical Interconnection Device

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Summary:

Ohio State researchers have developed a new optical interconnection device that may be useful in routing information for communications systems. Currently, fiber optic systems use electronic switches, requiring downconversion, switching, and upconversion that causes the opto-electronic-optical (OEO) bottleneck.. This invention will process signals at a much greater speed while facilitating easy operation and requiring less space than electronic alternatives. Further, this invention avoids highly complex optical MEMS alignment and continuous feedback typical of other optical switches, making this optical approach far cheaper, smaller, and easier to implement.

Potential Applications:

  • Optical routing and switching
  • Optical interconnections
  • Replacement of electronic switches in fiber-optic backbones

Advantages:

  • Compact design
  • Simple to setup and operate
  • Simple, inexpensive hardware

Undetectable, Unjammable, and Interference-Free Ultra Wideband Radar System

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Summary:

Researchers at the Ohio State University have developed a virtually undetectable ultra wide band radar system that transmits pseudo random noise. On receive, the radar system cross-correlates a copy (possibly modified) of the original waveform with the receive signals. If a target reflects the signal (with modifications) then the radar will detect the reflection, the time delay, and Doppler. Thus the radar can tell the distance to a reflecting object and its relative speed. This is done using a waveform that will not interfere with other users of the spectrum. The noise waveform is extremely hard to detect. Researchers have further developed a system of storing the waveforms and performing the cross correlation at a particular time delay using a single memory device and no delay devices. This lends to the creation of a small, low cost, low power, stealthy radar that cannot be easily detected by conventional radar detection equipment and can be used for very short range applications. The radar can also be used to identify radar targets by using a pair of waveforms matched to the target radar impulse response. Thus the radar can also be used to detect only specific types of targets, as maybe required by the application.

Potential Applications:

  • Speed radar gun manufacturers seeking an undetectable radar gun
  • Simple moving vehicle/person/object with identification potential (automotive lane change warning)
  • Highway management to evaluate strength of material, or helicopter air to air warning systems
  • Low cost ground penetration radar for pipes, land mine detection, or probing human bodies
  • Low cost building penetration radar (security systems at casinos and airports)
  • Cross section instrumentation radar with inverse synthetic aperture imaging radar ability
  • Moving Radar, synthetic aperture radar systems

Advantages:

  • Robust with reference to interference or jamming – thus undetectable and hard to intercept
  • Unlikely to interfere with other noise radar systems or other radar systems in the same band
  • Low cost, small, light weight, and can be used for very short-range applications
  • Can be trained to be target specific (with the ability to specify multiple targets)
  • Would require no license to operate in civilian bands, and is fully coherent in amplitude and phase