Army-led nanotube project speeds toward 6G and beyond
The Army Research Office is funding a government, industry and academic team of researchers that is now on the cutting edge of establishing a new, high-frequency, highly promising semiconducting transistor technology.
The transistor technology involves the use of carbon nanotubes, described as materials that take the form of cylindrical carbon molecules. Aligned carbon nanotubes offer a new level of processing and transmission performance that not only exceeds the much-discussed 5G technology, but has the potential to evolve toward 6G speeds – and beyond.
The partnership includes the Army Research Laboratory’s Army Research Office, the University of Southern California, and Culver City, Calif.-based semiconductor technology company Carbonics.
The goal of the effort has been to demonstrate a “carbon nanotube technology that, for the first time, achieved speeds exceeding 100GHz in radio frequency applications,” according to an Army Research Laboratory report. These speeds massively exceed the performance parameters of existing consumer electronics, such as cellphones.
These kinds of semiconducting transistors can exponentially improve performance, speed and efficiency of radio frequency electrical signals. The potential military applications include radar, electronic warfare systems, and a wide range of combat-essential sensors.