Atom-Thin Switches Could Route 5G, and Even 6G Radio Signals
takyon writes:
Atom-Thin Switches Could Route 5G and 6G Radio Signals
Two-dimensional, atom-thin materials are good for a lot of things, but until two years ago, nobody thought they'd make good memory devices. Then Deji Akinwande, Jack Lee, and their team at UT Austin tried it out. It turns out that sandwiching a 2D material like molybdenum disulfide between two electrodes makes a memristor-a two-terminal device that stores data as a change in resistance. In research reported last week, they've proved a very important potential application for these "atomristors"-analog RF switches for 5G and perhaps future 6G radios.
[...] The key figure of merit for RF switches is called cut-off frequency. It's a combination of on-state resistance and off-state capacitance, both of which should be low in a good switch. Terahertz values for cutoff frequency indicate that a device is a good candidate for an RF switch, and the experimental hBN[*] devices scored 129 terahertz. As part of the testing, the team transmitted real-time high-definition video at a rate of 8.5 gigabits per second using a 100 gigahertz carrier frequency, which they say is more than sufficient for 5G's streaming needs. At this data rate, several movies can be downloaded in a few seconds. They reported their results in Nature Electronics (DOI: 10.1038/s41928-020-0416-x) (DX).
[...] For 6G frequencies, which are expected to include frequencies in the terahertz range (300 to 3000 GHz), the UT Austin team is planning new laboratory measurements.
[*] hBN: hexagonal boron nitride and Wikipedia.
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