Are you considering only discrete gates or do you also want to know about ones which are completely internal to a large IC (like a processor)? Normal CMOS gate switching speed is very dependent on the load capacitance which is usually much higher if that output line actually comes out to a pin on the IC. So, the fastest CMOS gate (as a part of a microprocessor or FPGA) is probably around 10GHz switching speed but the fastest 74xx series variant would probably be only around 300MHz to perhaps 1GHz. Note that this 10GHz figure I am giving here is my guess for the maximum clock rate for a single gate - when you put them together in a system the max clock rate is greatly reduced because the system is usually operated synchronously so the worst-case propagation delay path will determine the maximum system clock rate. I have a microwave prescaler which runs to 12GHz. It has flip-flops in it which are being clocked by the input frequency. However, it is very different from typical CMOS logic because the input and output logic levels are much smaller and the output doesn't switch very "hard" ON even when clocked at moderate frequencies. I say this because the output is not very rich in harmonics when I view it on a 21GHz spectrum analyzer. I am fairly sure that there have been experimental electronic logic gates which have switched at several hundred GHz. What do you mean by "non-contact magnetic gates"? Sean On Thu, Aug 2, 2012 at 5:02 AM, Yigit Turgut wrote: > Hi all, > > I am trying to reach to information about the fastest response times > among logic gates and IC's but couldn't come up with something > significant. I am interested in both conventional contact gates and > non-contact magnetic gates as well, I just need to determine the > fastest gate ever, it can be experimental or even theoretical. > > Any ideas ? > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .