Motorola and Phiar Corporation Validate High Speed Performance of Metal-Insulator Diodes for Future Wireless Applications

Schaumburg, IL and Boulder, CO – 12 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.

For the past year, Motorola Labs and Phiar have been working together to develop high performance, commercially viable electronic circuits that can be incorporated with tiny antennas to deliver high-speed millimeter wave receive arrays. The technology can potentially reduce cost, size, and improve performance for applications associated with high-speed communications, automotive collision avoidance and navigation, homeland security weapons detection and medical imaging.

“We’ve validated the performance of Phiar devices in our labs. The response of the Phiar diodes surpasses that of the best commercially available diodes for millimeter wave detector applications,” says Dr. Vida Ilderem, Vice President, Embedded Systems Research, Motorola Labs. “We’re excited about this technology and its potential impact on future generations of wireless applications and solutions from Motorola.”

Today’s mass market semiconductor technologies enable devices running in the megahertz (MHz) frequency range and pushing to enter the low end gigahertz (GHz) frequency range of operation, Motorola and Phiar are developing circuits that are capable of operating in the hundreds of GHz and potentially into the terahertz (THz) range, at data rates of tens of gigabits per second.

The joint development utilizes Phiar’s Metal-Insulator technology and Motorola’s millimeter wave (60 GHz) circuits and systems technology, modeling and simulation, device and circuit characterization and advanced prototyping capabilities.

“We are delighted that our diodes have met, and in fact, shown on average a 70% better voltage responsivity than Motorola’s performance benchmark devices,” said Bob Goodman, Phiar’s president and CEO. “Having reached this milestone with a much lower cost solution puts us in a very favorable position in the marketplace. It proves metal-insulator technology is a viable alternative to higher priced, exotic-semiconductor devices.”


The next generation MIIM diodes can be broadly incorporated with circuits which use standard CMOS manufacturing as well as other semiconductor and printed circuit technologies. The technology is compatible with multiple standards and substrates and has the potential to greatly improve speed and simplify interconnects, both lowering cost and improving performance. By the end of 2007, Motorola and Phiar plan to have a receiver prototype of this technology demonstrating wireless video streaming at multi-Gbps data rates.

About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by our vision of Seamless Mobility, the people of Motorola are committed to helping you get and stay connected simply and seamlessly to the people, information, and entertainment that you want and need. We do this by designing and delivering “must have” products, “must do” experiences and powerful networks -- along with a full complement of support services. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $35.3 billion in 2005. For more information about our company, our people and our innovations, please visit www.motorola.com.

About Phiar Corporation
Phiar is developing low cost, nano-scale devices that take performance beyond the physical limits of semiconductors. Phiar’s metal-insulator technology can be integrated into supporting CMOS chip dies, or manufactured on a wide range of other substrates. Natively operating from DC to 3 THz, Phiar’s technology is a compact, practical replacement for costly compound semiconductors in GHz applications and cryogenic devices in the emerging THz field. Phiar is funded by Menlo Ventures. For more information, visit www.phiar.com.

Contact Information

Chuck Kaiser

Media Contact

Motorola, Inc.

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