Originally Published MEM Spring 2008

FROM THE EDITOR

An ultrahigh-frequency circuit could drastically reduce the cost of medical imaging systems—maybe within the next five years. The 410-GHz circuit was developed by researchers at the University of Florida (UF; Gainesville) and Texas Instruments (TI; Dallas). The breakthrough is that it uses complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS) technology. The new chip is based on TI's 45-nm advanced manufacturing CMOS process.

According to TI, the 410-GHz circuit is about 60 GHz higher than the previous record, which was set using a more expensive technology called indium phosphide technology. And, it is more than twice that of the previous record of 200 GHz set using CMOS technology in 2006. A UF laboratory confirmed the 410-GHz measurement using a circuit equipped with a tiny on-chip antenna the size of a pen tip.

"This is probably the first time in 30 years that a silicon-based circuit has been shown to have a higher operating frequency than one based on indium phosphide and similar compounds," said Ken O, a UF professor of electrical engineering and the lead researcher on the project.

TI notes that the ultrahigh-frequency circuits created in the past have been made with exotic materials that are costly to manufacture. CMOS, by contrast, is the standard semiconductor transistor process used to make the majority of chips in the integrated circuit industry. Ultrahigh-­frequency chips based on this technology would be much less expensive to manufacture.

"This is exciting because if you can build chips based on these circuits, then you can build inexpensive detection and imaging systems for a range of applications," said O. "The result could reduce the cost for these systems by a factor of 100 or more."

O said that leveraging TI's process for manufacturing the chip will enable the researchers to demonstrate the chip's possibilities within the next five years. TI suggests that one possibility for such chips could be to facilitate early detection of skin and other cancers.

The benefit for medical electronics is clear: a more-­powerful and less-expensive chip that can lead to a new generation of imaging and monitoring devices.