Jan. 19, 2026 –
A research team at Prof. Hua Wang’s Integrated Devices, Electronics, and Systems (IDEAS) Group has published a pioneering paper in “Nature Electronics” which demonstrates a new class of high millimetre-wave switches, thus unlocking high-frequency performance for future wireless systems.
The recent paper published in “Nature Electronics”, entitled “High-power millimetre-wave switches on silicon using displacement fields and tunnelling currents” demonstrates a new class of high millimetre-wave switches realised in a commercial, zero-change 45-nm CMOS SOI process, addressing key challenges for future wireless and mixed-signal systems. “This work introduces a switching mechanism based on electrically controlled displacement fields and tunnelling currents in an ultrathin oxide, enabling a combination of sub-100 ps switching speed, high cutoff frequency, and high power handling that exceeds conventional transistor switches using the same CMOS SOI technology”, as Prof. Hua Wang explains. By leveraging a standard foundry process provided by GlobalFoundries, this approach points to a scalable path for integrating high-performance switches into next-generation silicon RF, mm-wave, and THz systems.
This project was led by Dr. Mohammad Samizadeh Nikoo during his postdoctoral research at ETH Zurich’s Integrated Devices, Electronics, and Systems (IDEAS) Group headed by Prof. Hua Wang. Dr. Nikoo is now a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.
This research was in part sponsored by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI) under the SwissChips initiative, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) R’Equip programme, ETH Zurich and Horizon Europe grants. The team also acknowledges the National Research Foundation Singapore for funding support and GlobalFoundries for chip fabrication.