Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Nanotechnology Transmits Information in Cell Phones and Computers at Record Speed

By R&D Editors | May 31, 2005

Nanotechnology Transmits Information in Cell Phones and Computers at Record Speed

UC Irvine scientists at The Henry Samueli School of Engineering have demonstrated for the first time that carbon nanotubes can route electrical signals on a chip faster than traditional copper or aluminum wires, at speeds of up to 10 GHz. The breakthrough could lead to faster and more efficient computers, and improved wireless network and cellular phone systems, adding to the growing enthusiasm about nanotechnology’s revolutionary potential. “Our prior research showed that nanotube transistors can operate at extremely high frequencies, but the connections between the transistors were made out of somewhat slower copper, thus forming a bottleneck for the electrical signals,” said Peter Burke, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and one of the researchers who developed the technology. “In this technology we show that nanotubes can also quickly route electronic signals from one transistor to another, thus removing the bottleneck.” Electrical signals are routed at high speed through virtually all modern electronic systems and also through the airwaves in all modern wireless systems. “From now on, any time a nanotube device is used anywhere in the world in a high-speed electronic device, computer, wireless network or telephone system, people will benefit from this technology,” Burke added. A nanotube is commonly made from carbon and consists of a graphite sheet seamlessly wrapped into a cylinder only a few nanometers wide. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, about the size of 10 atoms strung together. Most of the layers of a modern semiconductor chip are dedicated to interconnect wiring, making the material used, and its speed, extremely important. The semiconductor industry recently shifted from using aluminum to copper as interconnects because copper carries electrical signals faster than aluminum. Based on Burke’s work, it is now clear that changing the industry from copper to nanotubes would provide an even larger performance advantage in terms of speed. Before such a shift could occur, however, nanotube technology would need to be economical to manufacture and require precise assembly, a project Burke is currently working on. Previous work by the Burke team demonstrated that nanotubes can carry electrical signals up to several millimeters across a chip better than copper, but did not measure how fast the signals propagate. This work is the first interconnect-technology demonstration for ultra-high-speed applications. Now that Burke’s team has developed both high-speed nanotube-interconnect technology and high-speed nanotube-transistor technology, they hope to integrate the two into an ultra-high-speed all-nanotube electronic circuit, faster than any existing semiconductor technology. Burke conducted the research along with graduate student Zhen (Jenny) Yu. The findings have been reported in the June 2005 issue of Nano Letters, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. The Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation provided funding for the research, which took place at UCI’s Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

Related Articles Read More >

Berkeley Lab’s Dell and NVIDIA-powered ‘Doudna’ supercomputer to enable real-time data access for 11,000 researchers
QED-C outlines road map for merging quantum and AI
Quantum computing hardware advance slashes superinductor capacitance >60%, cutting substrate loss
Hold your exaflops! Why comparing AI clusters to supercomputers is bananas
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE