Industry press

New Electronics Promise Wireless at Warp Speed
February 5, 2008 -- Scientific American
Wireless networking technology will one day deliver high-definition video content and other large data files via the airwaves far faster than that information can be now be delivered over wired systems. But it will take major advances in the electronics that drive computer and radio-frequency systems to create such a high-powered wireless highway. [link]

Motorola moves toward next-generation 60-GHz mobile wireless
October 31, 2007 -- EDN
Mobile phone maker Motorola Inc. has completed the final phase of its joint development agreement (JDA) with metal-insulator electronics provider Phiar Corp. According to the company, the completion of the JDA validates Phiar's metal-insulator electronics as a part of potential next-generation 60-GHz mobile wireless, point-to-point networks, wireless HDMI and imaging technologies from Motorola. [link]

Motorola prototype validates metal-oxide for WPAN device
October 31, 2007 -- EE Times
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Wireless personal area networking (WPAN) got another boost today, when Motorola Labs (Tempe, Ariz.) announced that its joint-development agreement with Phiar Corp. (Boulder, Colo.) had succeeded in validating metal-insulator electronics as a viable alternative to semiconductors for millimeter wavelength 60-GHz WPAN devices. IBM recently announced a deal with Taiwan's MediaTek to supply chip sets for the IEEE 802.15.3c WPAN standard using IBM's silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS radios. Motorola claims to be developing a rival 60-GHz radio sans semiconductors. [link]

Beyond .11n
October 30, 2007 -- Interconnects
Last May the 802.11 group convened the Very High Throughput Study Group to scope out what comes after .11n. One motivation for starting the group was to respond to a call for proposals for Gbit-class wireless networks from the ITU. [link]

Phiar, a first alternative to the semiconductor industry
October 26, 2007 -- VentureBeat
A competitor to semiconductors would break a 50-plus year monopoly on everything from processing power to communications. Yet that’s exactly what Phiar says it can do, with a new technology called metal-insulated electronics. [link]

Ultrawideband under the gun
October 25, 2007 -- -- EE Times
SAN JOSE, Calif. — In the race to a gigabit-per-second wireless link for the digital home, some ultrawideband backers are gasping for air while Wi-Fi proponents are revving up for the next lap. An IEEE 802.11 study group is gearing up to launch a standards effort next year that could pave the way for Wi-Fi to step up to 3-5 Gbits/second data rates. Meanwhile an independent tester reports two UWB products now shipping have average throughput of just 20 Mbits/second at a range of 15 feet. [link]

Quantum tunneling creates fast lane for wireless
October, 2007 -- IEEE Spectrum
Until recently, a truly wireless existence was beyond what silicon circuits could offer. The bands of the radio spectrum, such as Wi-Fi, that they could reach were too narrow to connect a high-definition TV to a high-definition DVD player. The chips that could do the job, made with exotic semiconductors, were too expensive for consumer electronics. But in the last two years, silicon circuits finally broke into the 60-gigahertz band, which has been shown to allow data-transfer rates of 5 gigabits per second over a distance of 5 meters. [link]

The commercial possibilities of metal-insulator electronics
Sept. / Oct., 2007 -- Antenna Systems & Technology
Recently, Moore’s law and the semiconductor performance it governs have started falling behind the ambitions and needs of those developing cutting-edge of RF electronics. Engineers working on millimeter-wave and terahertz systems face daunting price / performance trade-offs in designing their systems. Do I really need indium phosphide-level performance? What will those components do to our bill of materials costs? Are mass-market applications possible at frequencies beyond the reach of III-V semiconductors? [pdf]

Electron transport via quantum tunneling in metal insulator diodes
Sept. 18, 2007 -- WaferNEWS
The humble diode is the focal point of what Phiar Corp. hopes will be the beginning of a future that includes non-semiconductor materials for junction transport via quantum tunneling -- and the first credible alternative to semiconductors since the vacuum tube era. [pdf]

Advanced electronics are metal-based
Sept. 1 , 2007 -- Metals & Alloys
Phiar Corporation claims its metal-based electronics technology bridges the speed gap between "conventional" semiconductor chips and high-speed optical (light wavelength) components. [pdf]

Metal-insulator antenna patent sought
September, 2007 -- Signal
A monolithically integrated analog front end and antenna structure has been developed that will reduce costs and enhance the practicality of 60-gigahertz wireless systems. Phiar Corporation has applied for a patent for a design that will enable radios to stream multiple channels of uncompressed high-definition video content. [link]

Technology simplifies millimeter-wave radio development
Aug. 27 , 2007 -- eepn
Heralded as a new approach forecasting unprecedented integration levels in high-performance analog electronics, the company's patent-pending, monolithically integrated analog front-end and antenna structure employs metal-insulator electronics instead of semiconductors to integrate antennas and analog electronic components on the same substrate. This approach predicts significant cost reductions while making 60-GHz wireless systems practical for consumer markets. [link]

Can metal-insulator electronics do it better, sans semiconductors?
July 23, 2007 -- EE Times
Ultrahigh-speed electronics is quickly approaching a "terahertz gap" between semiconductors that top out at hundreds of gigahertz and optical frequencies that hit hundreds of terahertz. Promising to span that breach, where wavelengths are measured in millimeters, is a new breed of metal-insulator electronics... [link]

Diode delivers terahertz comms
Dec. 26, 2005 -- EE Times
Garret Moddel has been propelled into commercial electronics via a joint technology development agreement between Phiar Corp. and Motorola Inc., after Phiar's demonstration of Moddel's remarkably fast terahertz diode at a meeting of the Materials Research Society in April. [link]

Metal diode enables terahertz transceiver
April 11, 2005 -- EE Times
A new diode concept being developed at Phiar Corp. promises to enable terahertz detectors that could easily be integrated into silicon circuits, according to the company's CEO and founder. Garret Moddel described the technology at the recent Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society in San Francisco. [link]

Local press

Nanotechnology leaders dream big for industry
Sept. 18, 2006 -- Denver Post [link]

Phiar wants to move faster; Boulder business wants to leave current transfer speeds in the dust
May 22, 2006 -- Daily Camera [pdf]

Phiar seeks to go where no electron has gone before
April 14, 2006 -- Boulder County Business Report [pdf]

Phiar ready for fast growth in electronic components
March 10, 2006 -- The Denver Business Journal [link]

Colorado companies make best of transfers
March 11, 2005 -- The Denver Business Journal [link]

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Analyst coverage

Phiar Corporation: Bringing the next revolution in electronics?
Aug. 1 , 2007 -- Frost & Sullivan
Phiar Corporation was founded in July 2001 based on Prof. Garret Moddel’s research on metal-insulator devices at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Today, the company holds a strong patent portfolio for the metal-insulator device technology and is likely to revolutionize electronics. Phiar’s metal-insulator device technology is applicable for DC to 3 THz applications. The metal-insulator technology is a cost-effective alternative to semiconductor technology, and, according to the estimates by Phiar Corporation, meets or exceeds different device performance parameters when compared to semiconductor technology. [pdf]

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Press releases

Phiar Files Patent For Integrated Antenna and Analog Electronics—Simplifies Millimeter-wave Radio Development to Enable Multi-Gigabit Wireless Solutions
July 23, 2007 -- Business Wire
BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phiar Corporation, the leading provider of metal-insulator electronics, today announced that it has filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a monolithically integrated analog front end and antenna structure. Phiar’s innovation uses metal-insulator electronics instead of semiconductors to integrate antennas and analog electronic components on the same substrate. This breakthrough approach reduces costs and greatly enhances the practicality of 60 GHz wireless systems that will enable multi-gigabit data transmission for the consumer electronics market. [link]

Phiar Appoints Metal-Insulator Electronics Veteran — Michael Estes — as Director of Engineering
July 23, 2007 -- Business Wire
BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phiar Corporation, the leading provider of metal-insulator electronics, today announced the appointment of Michael Estes as the company’s Director of Engineering. Estes brings more than 20 years of industry experience to the position, including a previous period of employment with Phiar from 2001-2004 as the company’s Director of Product Development. [link]

Phiar Corporation wins 2007 CSIA Apex Fast Forward Award: Emerging Company Honored for Forward Thinking, Next-Generation Technology Development
June 19, 2007 -- Business Wire
BOULDER, Colo.— June 19, 2007—Phiar Corporation, the leading provider of metal-insulator electronics, today announced that it won the Fast Forward Award at the seventh annual CSIA Apex Awards ceremony held in Denver, Colo. on June 5. The annual CSIA (Colorado Software & Internet Association) event honors the breakthrough innovations and contributions of Colorado’s leading technology companies.

Motorola and Phiar Corporation Validate High Speed Performance of Metal-Insulator Diodes for Future Wireless Applications
Dec. 19 , 2006 -- Business Wire
Schaumburg, IL and Boulder, CO – 19 December 2006 – Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and Phiar Corporation announced Phiar’s metal-double-insulator-metal (MIIM) diodes have surpassed Motorola’s millimeter wave frequency performance benchmarks, marking a significant milestone in the companies’ joint agreement to develop next generation MIIM diodes for millimeter wave frequency applications. [pdf]

Phiar Corp. Announces DARPA Award to Fund Novel Metal-Insulator Transistor Development
Sept. 25, 2006 -- Business Wire
Phiar Corporation, the leader in metal-insulator electronic devices offering unprecedented price/performance, confirmed today that it has been awarded a Phase-II SBIR contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the amount of $1.4 million. The award was made through DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office. [pdf]

Gigabit Wireless Start-Up, Phiar, Moves to a Larger Facility
Feb. 8, 2006 -- Business Wire
Phiar Corp., a developer of gigabit wireless technology, has moved into a new state-of-the-art facility. The company, which completed a sizeable Series A funding round involving Menlo Ventures in mid-2005, is developing the first gigabit wireless technology that will operate at speeds faster than wired copper connections. [pdf]

Motorola Inc. and Phiar Corporation Announce Joint Development of High-Speed Cicuits with Potential to Operate to Terahertz (THz) Frequencies
Aug. 9, 2005 -- Business Wire
Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and Phiar Corporation announced a Joint Development Agreement for a project focusing on the creation of next generation electronic circuits which can be incorporated with tiny antennas to deliver high-speed millimeter wave receive arrays. [link]

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