TRW Honored For "Best of the Decade" Work On Record-Setting Chip
19 June 1998
TRW Honored For "Best of the Decade" Work On Record-Setting Chip
REDONDO BEACH, Calif.--June 19, 1998--A team of engineers from TRW has been honored by the International Conference on Indium Phosphide and Related Materials (IPRM) for its work developing high-speed integrated circuits made from indium phosphide, a next-generation semiconductor material.A technical paper describing the team's work producing a world-record-setting chip was recently voted one of the best papers presented in the conference's 10-year history.
The team, led by Dr. Richard Lai, received one of only five 10th Anniversary Paper Awards presented at this year's IPRM conference, which was held in early May in Tsukuba, Japan. The paper won the "best of the decade" prize in the category titled "indium phosphide microelectronics." More than 1,800 papers have been presented at the conference since its inception in 1989.
The award-winning paper describes the team's work designing and producing an indium phosphide low-noise amplifier chip that can operate at 155 gigahertz, the highest operating frequency ever reported for a solid-state amplifier. The paper was originally presented at the 1997 IPRM Conference in Hyannis Port, Mass.
"This award demonstrates that TRW is now recognized worldwide as the leading designer and developer of indium phosphide high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology," said Dwight Streit, manager of TRW's Microelectronic Products and Technology Development department.
"It's quite an honor to be recognized by your peers as the best in what continues to be an exciting and very challenging area of technology development." Streit, one of the paper's co-authors, accepted the award at the IPRM conference on behalf of TRW and his fellow engineers.
Indium phosphide is an advanced semiconductor technology that offers higher operating speeds and lower noise figures than technologies currently used for high performance microwave communications and advanced digital signal processing. It promises to speed significantly the rates at which information is processed and delivered over communication superhighways for both government and commercial users.
In recent years, TRW has designed and fabricated a variety of indium phosphide circuits, including the honored amplifier chip, with operating frequencies in excess of 150 gigahertz. All of these chips have been fabricated at the company's ultra-clean microelectronics production facility in Redondo Beach.
TRW is currently developing microwave and millimeter wave integrated circuits that operate at frequencies ranging from 0.8 gigahertz to more than 200 gigahertz for applications ranging from satellite communications payloads and battlefield combat identification systems to wireless communication systems. One gigahertz equals one billion cycles per second.
Based in Cleveland, TRW provides advanced technology products and services for the automotive, space and defense, and information technology markets worldwide. The company's 1997 sales totaled nearly $12 billion (including the recent BDM acquisition). TRW news releases can be obtained on the corporate Web site: http://www.trw.com.