Source: Market Watch.

Northrop Grumman Corporation has demonstrated an 850 gigahertz (GHz) integrated receiver that brings the company much closer to being the first to reach a Department of Defense goal for developing transistor-based electronics that can operate at center frequencies past 1 terahertz (THz).

Company engineers reported they scaled the frequency rate to 850 GHz, or 0.85 trillion cycles per second under Phase 2 of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency¡¯s (DARPA¡¯s) Terahertz Electronics program, setting a new performance record. Under Phase 1, they developed a Terahertz Monolithic Integrated Circuit that operated at 670 GHz, or 0.67 trillion cycles per second, in 2010.

¡°Integrated circuits operating at frequencies past 1 THz will enable submillimeter wave technology for covert, small aperture communications, high-resolution imaging and leap-ahead advancements in explosive detection spectroscopy,¡± said Dr. William Deal, Terahertz Electronics program manager for Northrop Grumman¡¯s Aerospace Systems sector. ¡°This unprecedented increase in integrated circuit operating speed is especially important for emerging applications in military communications and radar. The amplifiers and receivers we¡¯re demonstrating will enable more sensitive radar and produce sensors with highly improved resolution.¡±

In addition to demonstrating low-noise integrated receivers under the DARPA program, the company developed and tested low-noise amplifiers and power amplifiers. ¡°Success in the initial phase led to a $12.5 million contract, bringing the total value of the program to $28 million,¡± Deal said.

The goal of DARPA¡¯s Terahertz Electronics program is to develop the critical device and integration technologies necessary to realize compact, high-performance electronic circuits that operate at center frequencies exceeding 1.0 THz. The program focuses on two areas: THz high-power amplifier modules and THz transistor electronics.