Impact of the "EMF" controversy on emerging technologies: good or bad

Abstract

It is likely that some emerging technologies, which are a market for GaAs IC will be slowed by factors which are an outgrowth of today's "EMF" controversy. Questions of safety for human exposure to electromagnetic energy associated with electronic systems are not based on rational comparisons to science-based standards but on media and public perceptions and stimulation from the legal community. There is, today, significant "Electrophobia" and spreading exploitation of this phobia. Increased support is needed for committees which deal with setting standards or with public education, like the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR). It can be foreseen that the eventual concern about environmental electromagnetic energies associated with emerging technologies will relate to the susceptibility to interference of ICs in the face of greatly expanding uses of electromagnetic energy for wireless and also for non-communication uses. Today there is an international program to eliminate the excess noise radiated from microwave ovens. In the future, space transmission of huge amounts of power signals an ultimate challenge for electromagnetic compatibility with future systems employing the GaAs IC.