WASHINGTON - Researchers have built a microchip from graphene, a form of pure carbon, that can operate at much higher speeds than existing silicon chips. This will enable faster data transmission in mobile phones and computers.

The key to these superfast chips is the use of graphene, a form of pure carbon that was first identified in 2004.

Researchers have already used an single atom-thick layer of carbon to make prototype transistors and other simple devices, but the latest results, by researchers in MIT, could open up a range of new applications.

MIT researchers built an experimental graphene chip known as a frequency multiplier, capable of taking an incoming electrical signal of a certain frequency and producing an output signal that is a multiple of that frequency.

In this case, the MIT graphene chip can double the frequency of an electromagnetic signal.

Frequency multipliers are widely used in radio communications and other applications. But existing systems require multiple components, produce ‘noisy’ signals that require filtering and consume large power.

The new graphene system has just a single transistor and produces, in a highly efficient manner, a clean output that needs no filtering.

‘In electronics, we’re always trying to increase the frequency, in order to make ‘faster and faster computers’ and cellphones that can send data at higher rates, for example,’ said Tomas Palacios, assistant professor in MIT department of electrical engineering and computer science, according to an MIT release.

‘It’s very difficult to generate high frequencies above four or five gigahertz,’ he says, but the new graphene technology could lead to practical systems in the 500 to 1,000 gigahertz range. I believe this application will have tremendous implications in high-frequency communications and electronics,’ he said.

The findings are slated for publication in the May issue of Electron Device Letters and were also presented last week at the American Physical Society meeting by Palacios.