Microwave Engineering Europe - December 2008 - (Page 14) 14 RF/MICROWAVE MATERIALS Polymer advances RFID security — Nanotube switching effect discovered — 90 GHz graphene transistor research gains another adherent Edited by Jean-Pierre Joosting Peratech touts polymer based RFID security material A small but fast growing British technology company, Peratech, (Richmond, Yorkshire, England) has developed switches made from an ultra-thin pressure sensitive material that it claims can overcome the problems and dangers of “contactless skimming” in security cards. It is also said to have application in a host of other sectors, for instance in mobile phone and PC keyboards as well as improving automotive safety. Based on its patented Quantum Tunnelling Composites (QTCs) material, Peratech maintains that by embedding these tiny switches into, for example, RFID chips used in contactless cards and passports, it is possible to ensure that they can only be read in a secure manner by the user pressing on the switch. “People — neither consumers, credit card issuers nor government agencies — just do not realize the huge security dangers and implications involved,” notes Philip Taysom, CEO of Peratech. He refers to the spate of security alerts that have been reported recently in which experts and hackers have proven how easily security cards can be cloned and decrypted. The problem is that such RFID tags emit signals “and thus sensitive data” constantly, and can thus be read surreptitiously by a compatible reader carried by anyone passing close enough to pick up the signals. Peratech has been working on the QTC composite and the polymer based variable resistor switch for some time, and has now made switches 30 micrometers thick, “more than thin enough to be laminated inside the current generation of RFIDs used in access or security cards and passports,” says Taysom. He says the polymer material — which when loaded in the correct way can change its electrical behaviour from being a resistor to a conductor when pressure is applied — is already used in a variety of applications, though he is reticent to elaborate due to non-disclosure agreements and security considerations when it comes to defence related applications. One intriguing application is for mobile phone and computer keyboards, where it could make the device tamper proof, as well as offer an element of water resistance. QTC technology has no moving parts and requires no air gap between contacts and is robust enough to survive many years of switching on and off. This makes it extremely reliable and suitable for integration into the thinnest electronic designs and with industry leading operational life. www.mwee.com/210600032 Nanotube switching effect discovered Scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (Karlsruhe, Germany) have unexpectedly discovered a physical effect that potentially can be used to develop novel electronic components. By means of the effect, the conductance of the nanotubes can be controlled. The scientist team from the KIT Institute for Nanotechnology (INT) have irradiated nanotubes with electrons, resulting in a conductivity decrease in well defined, very small areas by a factor of 1000. By applying high voltages, the effect could be reversed and the nanotubes became conductive again. “With relatively low effort we can achieve a huge effect which is reversible and reproducible,” said INT researcher Ralph Krupke. For the experiment, the scientists built an element similar to a transistor, arranging single nanotubes between electrodes. An oxide layer served as substrate. The scientists could produce very small zones of about 10 nanometers that featured very high resistance. www.mwee.com/212200946 IQE joins 90-GHz graphene transistor research program Specialist semiconductor wafer supplier IQE plc (Cardiff, Wales) has announced that its Pennsylvania based operation is to take part in the development of carbonbased, radio-frequency integrated circuits as part of the U.S. government’s Carbon Electronics for RF Applications (CERA) program. The work, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is seeking to exploit the properties of graphene to create components that will enable unprecedented capabilities in highbandwidth communications, imaging, and radar systems. IQE is part of a team consisting of commercial, university and military research establishments chartered under the CERA program to develop wafer-scale graphene synthesis approaches focused on enabling ultra-high-speed, low-power graphene-channel field effect transistors (FETs). www.mwee.com/210603826 Microwave Engineering Europe ● December 2008 ● www.mwee.com http://www.mwee.com/210600032 http://www.mwee.com/212200946 http://www.mwee.com/210603826 http://www.mwee.com
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