Jason Lee Miller from Web Pro News recently wrote about a company that is using Quantum Tunneling technology to develop microchips that would operate in the Terahertz region, wirelessly transmitting huge amounts of input at blazing speeds.

The appropriately named Phiar Corporation, located in Boulder Colorado, is developing metal insulator diodes that can be integrated into existing CMOS technology, resulting in what is basically a chip with an antenna. As posted  on the thznetwork.org weblog, “Phiar and Motorola Labs (Tempe, Ariz.) recently completed joint development of a 60-GHz antenna based on Phiar’s metal-insulator diode in a bid to enable multigigabit wireless radios that would stream multiple channels of uncompressed high-definition video”.

The diode is compliant with the emerging IEEE 802.15 T3Gc standard, or WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network). WPAN is concerned with the use of the unlicensed 60GHz spectrum for high speed wireless info transfer within devices, theoretically up to 7 Gbps. According to a report previewed on TMCnet.com, the 60GHz band is the only range capable of transferring uncompressed HDTV signals.

Unlike WiFi, WiMax, and the 700MHz spectrum, the 60GHz band does not penetrate barriers, and in fact, would be confined to a without room. Interference with other radio signals is pretty much a non issue, as well as neighbors piggybacking on your network.

While the view of being able to transfer an HDTV movie to your handheld in seconds is certainly appealing to the consumer, Phiar has other ideas for their Quantum Tunneling technology as well.

Wireless Radar for your Car

Automakers are constantly adding new technologies such as GPS and ACC (adaptive cruise control) to their Luxury models, and charging a hefty premium for it. Phiar claims it can produce a “spatial awareness” aid

at a much reduced cost by using its radar transceiver CMOS chips, thus eliminating costly compound semiconductor material. Imagine whether you will, a ribbon of radar transceivers embedded in the plastic trim wrapped around your car.

PC and Server Interconnects

Phiar’s radio chips could potentially replace much of the copper in motherboards. A northbridge chip with four integrated radio antennae could communicate wirelessly with the CPU, RAM, GPU, and the southbridge, at speeds so fast that traditional bottlenecks would cease to exist. External devices like hard drives could sit anywhere in the room, eliminating the need to break open the box when adding new peripherals. Optical server interconnects could be replaced and potential consumption reduced while adding several terabits per second of bandwidth within a blade server chassis.

Terahertz Imaging and Spectroscopy

Phiar believes it work in the Terahertz region could open up a wide variety of imaging applications across Industries that to date have been too expensive and cumbersome to implement commercially. Many materials are partially or fully transparent to that radiation, making it ideal for Spectroscopy. Applications such as medical imaging, homeland defense, chemical detection, and others are some of the technologies Phiar is looking into for the future.

Historically, frequencies amidst 100GHz and 10THz, known as the Terahertz Region, have been difficult to access. halfway within Microwave and Infrared on the Spectrum, Phiar’s terahertz technology is set to bridge the gap amidst radio and photonics, and open up a whole new world of possibilities. Some say the technology could eventually replace the semi conductor.
 
Phiar says it will be shipping its first product commercially in 2009.

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Original post by editor