Implementation of an amorphous silicon carbide, ultra-high-speed switch for improving FPGA’s interconnect switching

Abstract: A novel solution for improving FPGA’s operation is proposed here, for the first time. The use of a crystalline silicon based switch, which incorporates in fabrication procedure a 0.1 microns thin film of amorphous silicon carbide, is presented in this paper. The above switch exhibits a rise time value of about 10ps, which is the lowest ever reported and compared with switching time of 50-300ns of MOSFETs used in FPGAs interconnect switching, can lead to very fast FPGA’s operation. The switch can be triggered from OFF to ON state by using a gate electrode. It can also be triggered by incident light, thus making it capable for future FPGAs photonic application.

Keywords: FPGAs, interconnect switches, amorphous silicon carbide ultra-high-speed switch.