IBM announced it has created the world's fastest silicon-based transistor able to achieve speeds of up to 350GHz. IBM's new transistor performs nearly 300 percent faster than today's production devices, and it is 65 percent faster than previously reported silicon transistors.

The transistor, a key component in microchips, uses a modified design and IBM's proven silicon germanium (SiGe) bipolar technology to achieve speeds of 350GHz. A fingernail-sized microchip can hold millions of transistors.

IBM anticipates the new transistor will lead to communications chips with speeds of more than 150GHz in about two years. The transistor is also expected to result in substantially lower power consumption and lower cost for communications systems and other electronic products.

SiGe is imperative for true system-on-chip designs that pull together standard logic circuitry and higher-speed wireless communications circuitry. This is IBM's fifth generation of SiGe technology, according to the official statement.

IBM's SiGe chips are built on existing manufacturing lines, allowing the technology to be introduced rapidly and at minimal cost. This has expanded the use of SiGe technology for extending function and battery life in cellular phones and other radio frequency, or wireless, communications products.