Millimetre-wave chip design is a highly specialised area – and recent work at CSIRO has reinforced its world-leading position in a field where a few microns can mean the difference between success and failure.
Dr Jay Guo, Research Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre’s Wireless Technologies Laboratory says that they have recently developed the world’s best millimetre-wave chips, operating at 200GHz.
“These chips are suitable for wireless communication links with up to tens of gigabits per second capacity,” says Dr Guo.
“Communications at these frequencies would be highly directional and would be more robust than optical links in cloudy, foggy or smoky conditions.”
“Another application of the chips is security imaging to detect concealed objects. Because the chips operate in the 180-220 GHz frequency range, the imager can have higher resolution, longer stand-off distance, and detect anything that blocks the body’s natural heat radiation.”
“This means that people can be scanned from a distance, for instance as they pass through airport security screening stations.”
These chips offer the possibility of mm-wave receiver systems with much wider and higher frequency coverage than is currently possible. The new chips show higher yield and significantly lower loss than any currently available on the market.
“CSIRO is currently seeking commercial partners to take these advanced chip designs to market,” says Dr Guo.
Source: CSIRO
Related stories:
New laser research could improve oil exploration success
CSIRO Petroleum and German-based research centre Laser Zentrum Hannover eV (LZH) are collaborating in a project that could save millions of dollars in oil exploration and introduce new Australian geochemical and petroleum analysis techniques to Europe.
Researchers from the two organisations are six months into a three year project working to enhance the capabilities of the on-line laser micropyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LaPy-GC/MS) technique for quality control and geochemical analysis.
Qimonda sells Inotera stake, cutting 3,000 jobs
(AP) -- German memory-chip maker Qimonda AG is cutting 3,000 jobs and selling its stake in Inotera - a joint venture with Taiwan's Nanya Technology Corp. - to Micron Technology Inc. for $400 million.
Dietary approaches to stop hypertension
I was doing what any self-respecting dietitian does with friends at the beach ... reading the label on the corn chip bag. I was surprised that this particular brand was lower in sodium than other snack foods I've seen.
New spintronics effect could lead to magnetic batteries
(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists have recently discovered that heating one side of a magnetized nickel-iron rod causes electrons to rearrange themselves according to their spins. This so-called "spin Seebeck effect" could lead to batteries that generate magnetic currents, rather than electric currents. A source of magnetic currents could be especially useful for the development of spintronics devices, which use magnetic currents in order to reduce overheating in computer chips, since, unlike electric currents, magnetic currents don´t generate heat.
Micron Tech cuts global work force by 15 percent
(AP) -- Micron Technology Inc. will close a factory and cut about 15 percent of its work force around the world as part of a restructuring of its computer memory chip operations.
Brainy genes, not brawn, key to success on mussel beach
It's hard being a mussel: you have to worry about hungry starfish and even hungrier humans, not to mention an environment that can change your body temperature 50 degrees Fahrenheit in just a few hours.
Brightening the future for optical circuits
(PhysOrg.com) -- By working together to share costs and know-how, European researchers are shaking up the way research and development is carried out on optical chips.
A new material could act as a nanofridge for microchips
In the past few years, the design and manufacturing of circuits at nanoscopic scale for integrated devices has become one of the frontier fields in new material science and technology. The significant reduction achieved in these devices often is accompanied by new discoveries in how they behave precisely when the systems are of extremely small dimensions. Understanding this new physics at nanoscopic scale at the same time has enabled researchers to study the possibility of designing new materials with innovative characteristics.