"CHIPS: Can metal-insulator electronics do it better, sans semiconductors?"

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 that inventor Phiar Corp. (Boulder, Colo.) has demonstrated at frequencies up to 3.8 THz. Phiar claims its technology surmounts hurdles in many applications for which it already claims to have industry development partners, including 60-GHz antenna-edge frequency conversion, parallel flash solid-state storage drives, monolithic millimeter-wave radar, integrated terahertz detector arrays for safe "X-ray vision" systems and chip-to-chip RF interconnects.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201200024