Young Scientists Break Speed Record: Data rate on chips almost doubled

Munich, November 12, 2002 – At only 26 years of age, Ph.D. student Daniel Kehrer has established a new speed record in data transmission with an experimental CMOS semiconductor circuit. He mastered this challenge at Corporate Research of Infineon Technologies in Munich. At 40 Gbit/s (40 billion bits per second), he nearly doubled the all-time high of 25 Gbit/s that had been achieved in February, also at Infineon. The speed-optimized chip will soon enable the production of even lower-cost, higher-performance devices for PC and mobile communication networks as well as for automotive and industrial applications.

The research outcome was the result of Infineon’s dedicated sponsoring programs for young scientists, as well as the company’s excellent microchip technology. In addition to Daniel Kehrer, the High Frequency Research department currently employs five other Ph.D. students. The high personal commitment of everyone and the collaboration between young talents and an experienced team form the basis for numerous top results that have been acknowledged worldwide.

The team cooperates closely with the Technical Universities of Vienna and Cottbus as well as with the University of Bochum. The company wants to make state-of-the-art circuit technologies available to talented students, given the fact that the universities often do not own the necessary expensive equipment. The cooperation with universities has a high priority for Infineon.

Mobile Internet made easier

The use of mobile devices to access the Internet is often still a slow and tedious process. Making mobile devices easy to handle to access the Internet requires complex high-speed ICs (integrated circuits). Moreover, low-power chips are a necessity to enable the use of wireless communication and information applications on PCs and mobile phones over an extended period of time.

Major applications of the new chip technology are also expected in wired communications. In this field, the market for 10 Gbit/s systems is currently being developed, but the speed margin that can be achieved with the 40 Gbit/s chips will result in a significant reduction of power consumption in next-generation devices.

Technical background

The 40 Gbit/s record was achieved on the basis of CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor), the standard process used in chip manufacturing. Up to now, such data rates were only feasible with SiGe (Silicon-Germanium) or with complex and thus expensive process technologies like GaAs (Gallium-Arsenid) or InP (Indium-Phosphite). The goal of the high frequency research work is to increase the data rate of semiconductor devices implemented with the much less complex and much cheaper CMOS technology to a degree that these devices can replace existing, more expensive components. For the record run, the circuitry was optimized and the integrated components packed as densely as possible. To do this, the specific characteristics of each component were examined in depth and fully leveraged for the circuit. This provides speed and reduces power consumption. The demonstrated research work represents a breakthrough success in the further development of components that are currently implemented and marketed by Infineon as discrete designs using SiGe RF components and CMOS logic chips.

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In the fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at www.infineon.com