Panasonic, Hiroshima University and NICT announced today the development of a terahertz (THz) transmitter capable of transmitting digital data at a rate exceeding 100 gigabits (= 0.1 terabit) per second over a single channel using the 300-GHz band. At this data rate, the whole content on a DVD (digital versatile disk) can be transferred in a fraction of a second. This technology enables data rates 10 times or faster than that offered by the fifth-generation mobile networks (5G), expected to appear around 2020.
Details of the technology will be presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2017 to be held from February 5 to February 9 in San Francisco, California. The THz band is a new and vast frequency resource expected to be used for future ultrahigh-speed wireless communications. The research group plans to further develop 300-GHz ultrahigh-speed wireless circuits.

