The past and future of fast transistors
The past and future of fast transistors lead image
Much of the communications network connecting people and devices across the globe is based on wireless technology. The backbone of this infrastructure is comprised of fast transistors operating in the GHz-THz range, capable of achieving the high data rates necessary for modern applications like video streaming and file transferring. Originally developed in the 1950s, fast transistors have evolved and improved.
Liou et al. discussed the history of fast transistors, highlighting several breakthroughs and advances in the field along with directions for future research.
The authors provided an overview of fast transistor development throughout the last sixty years, focusing on the most significant accomplishments from that period, such as the introduction of III-V materials like gallium arsenide.
“The most relevant in my eyes was the demonstration of heterostructures,” said author Frank Schwierz. “Without heterostructures, we couldn’t achieve such high operating frequencies. That was really a breakthrough.”
While the history of fast transistors is filled with ever more capable hardware, the authors caution that the technology is approaching fundamental limits. They discussed recent research directions that failed to bear fruit and the likely necessity of exploring alternative hardware platforms.
“The transistor is very close to its speed limits,” said Schwierz. “Either somebody will develop a transistor operating differently than those used today, or we have to switch to something like optical communication plus optical signal processing.”
While these alternatives are still new, the authors are confident that the research community will find a path forward and continue to develop fast hardware capable of handling the higher data rates future communications will demand.
Source: “Gigahertz and terahertz transistors for 5G, 6G, and beyond mobile communication systems,” by Juin J. Liou, Martin Ziegler, and Frank Schwierz, Applied Physics Reviews (2025). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0213011 .
