File:DARPA amplifier on silicon MIT.jpg

English: Two teams of DARPA performers have achieved world record power output levels using silicon-based technologies for millimeter-wave power amplifiers. RF power amplifiers are used in communications and sensor systems to boost power levels for reliable transmission of signals over the distance required by the given application. These breakthroughs were achieved under the Efficient Linearized All-Silicon Transmitter ICs (ELASTx) program. Further integration efforts may unlock applications in low-cost satellite communications and millimeter-wave sensing. MIT and Carnegie Mellon University researchers,demonstrated a 0.13 micrometer silicon-germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS power amplifier employing multistage power amplifier cells and efficient 16-way on-chip power-combining. This amplifier has achieved power output of 0.7 W at 42 gigahertz, a 3.5 times increase in output power compared to the next best reported silicon-based millimeter-wave power amplifier; this result was reported at the 2013 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). See http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/03/26.aspx for more details.