Electronic metadevices break barriers to ultra-fast communications


Date:
February 17, 2023
Source:
Ecole Polytechnique Fe'de'rale de Lausanne
Summary:
EPFL researchers have come up with a new approach to electronics
that involves engineering metastructures at the sub-wavelength
scale. It could launch the next generation of ultra-fast devices
for exchanging massive amounts of data, with applications in 6G
communications and beyond.


Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Until now, the ability to make electronic devices faster has come down to
a simple principle: scaling down transistors and other components. But
this approach is reaching its limit, as the benefits of shrinking are counterbalanced by detrimental effects like resistance and decreased
output power.


========================================================================== Elison Matioli of the Power and Wide-band-gap Electronics Research
Lab (POWERlab) in EPFL's School of Engineering explains that further miniaturization is therefore not a viable solution to better electronics performance. "New papers come out describing smaller and smaller
devices, but in the case of materials made from gallium nitride, the
best devices in terms of frequency were already published a few years
back," he says. "After that, there is really nothing better, because
as device size is reduced, we face fundamental limitations. This is
true regardless of the material used." In response to this challenge,
Matioli and PhD student Mohammad Samizadeh Nikoo came up with a new
approach to electronics that could overcome these limitations and enable
a new class of terahertz devices. Instead of shrinking their device, they rearranged it, notably by etching patterned contacts called metastructures
at sub-wavelength distances onto a semiconductor made of gallium nitride
and indium gallium nitride. These metastructures allow the electrical
fields inside the device to be controlled, yielding extraordinary
properties that do not occur in nature.

Crucially, the device can operate at electromagnetic frequencies in the terahertz range (between 0.3-30 THz) -- significantly faster than the
gigahertz waves used in today's electronics. They can therefore carry much greater quantities of information for a given signal or period, giving
them great potential for applications in 6G communications and beyond.

"We found that manipulating radiofrequency fields at microscopic scales
can significantly boost the performance of electronic devices, without
relying on aggressive downscaling," explains Samizadeh Nikoo, who is
the first author of an article on the breakthrough recently published
in the journal Nature.

Record high frequencies, record low resistance Because terahertz
frequencies are too fast for current electronics to manage, and too slow
for optics applications, this range is often referred to as the 'terahertz gap'. Using sub-wavelength metastructures to modulate terahertz waves
is a technique that comes from the world of optics. But the POWERlab's
method allows for an unprecedented degree of electronic control, unlike
the optics approach of shining an external beam of light onto an existing pattern.

"In our electronics-based approach, the ability to control induced radiofrequencies comes from the combination of the sub-wavelength
patterned contacts, plus the control of the electronic channel with
applied voltage. This means that we can change the collective effect
inside the metadevice by inducing electrons (or not)," says Matioli.

While the most advanced devices on the market today can achieve
frequencies of up to 2 THz, the POWERlab's metadevices can reach 20
THz. Similarly, today's devices operating near the terahertz range tend to break down at voltages below 2 volts, while the metadevices can support
over 20 volts. This enables the transmission and modulation of terahertz signals with much greater power and frequency than is currently possible.

Integrated solutions As Samizadeh Nikoo explains, modulating terahertz
waves is crucial for the future of telecommunications, as the increasing
data requirements of technologies like autonomous vehicles and 6G mobile communications are fast reaching the limits of today's devices. The
electronic metadevices developed in the POWERlab could form the basis
for integrated terahertz electronics by producing compact, high-frequency
chips that can already be used with smartphones, for example.

"This new technology could change the future of ultra-high-speed communications, as it is compatible with existing processes in
semiconductor manufacturing. We have demonstrated data transmission of
up to 100 gigabits per second at terahertz frequencies, which is already
10 times higher than what we have today with 5G," Samizadeh Nikoo says.

To fully realize the potential of the approach, Matioli says the next
step is to develop other electronics components ready for integration
into terahertz circuits.

"Integrated terahertz electronics are the next frontier for a connected
future.

But our electronic metadevices are just one component. We need to develop
other integrated terahertz components to fully realize the potential of
this technology. That is our vision and goal."
* RELATED_TOPICS
o Matter_&_Energy
# Electronics # Technology # Spintronics #
Consumer_Electronics
o Computers_&_Math
# Spintronics_Research # Mobile_Computing #
Computers_and_Internet # Information_Technology
* RELATED_TERMS
o Electrical_engineering o Safety_engineering o
Tissue_engineering o Mechanical_engineering o Materials_science
o Nanotechnology o Electricity_generation o Electricity

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
Ecole_Polytechnique_Fe'de'rale_de_Lausanne. Original written by Celia Luterbacher. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Mohammad Samizadeh Nikoo, Elison Matioli. Electronic metadevices for
terahertz applications. Nature, 2023; 614 (7948): 451 DOI: 10.1038/
s41586-022-05595-z ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230217103932.htm

--- up 50 weeks, 4 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)