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Article: Fast times in silicon circuits. (new methods being developed for measuring the characteristics of high-speed integrated circuits)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- July 11, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1987 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Fast Times in Silicon Circuits
In the ultrafast world of microelectronics,the blink of an eye seems to last a century. It is a world in which time is measured in picoseconds--trillionths of a second. Recently, a team of IBM researchers generated electrical pulses so short that each one lasts only half a picosecond. In that fraction of a second, light travels a distance of less than a millimeter.
The IBM technique is one of severalmethods now being developed for measuring the characteristics of high-speed integrated circuits. As researchers develop electronic devices that switch on and off faster and faster, the need for measurement techniques that can ...